Why Roque Santa Cruz played the entire match?

One of the main concerns of the Paraguayan team was the physical condition of Roque Santa Cruz for this World Cup. Even that Roque said that he was very willing of playing against England, and only if he felt really bad he would loss the match, in yesterday’s game he really was a phantom of what he really is.

Whose fault is the inclusion of a real out of shape Roque in this match? We could said that Roque had a little of fault because if he didn’t feel secure during the match, he should tell that to the coach, but we know that every player wants to play in a World Cup, even with only one leg, so his position is compressible.

The other responsible is Coach Ruiz. In my opinion because your best player just wants to play, that doesn’t mean that he could actually play. If he saw that Roque was really under his level, he should put him in the bench, or at least change him in during the game.

During the whole game, Roque really didn’t appear in the plays, and every time that he took the ball, it seems as if he was really afraid of physical contact. In my view this was a game for a player that confronts the physical contact and pushes forward the defenders of the rivals, like Dante Lopez or Salvador Cabañas.

Lets hope than Roque is full recover for the next match and play well, or at least if he doesn’t feel well steps aside giving the opportunity to another player.