A monumental Salvador Cabanas did away with four Argentinian players and set up Nelson Haedo for the kill.

This victory sealed our tickets to our fourth consecutive World Cup!!!

Paraguay warned Argentina twice before scoring, with Haedo hitting the post and Santana the crossbar.

I wish our Argentinian brothers all the best in their next couple of games.

Watch Cabanas twirl, play with Barreto, and finally release to Haedo above.

LA ALBIRROJA AL MUNDIAL!!!!!!

The rules are simple, win all your home games and bite some points on the road. Any team that can follow those rules should make it to the World Cup. This year, we played 9 of those 12 points away from home in Uruguay, Ecuador, and Brazil. Considering those venues and rivals, losing all three games was completely possible! Even so, we brought a golden point from Ecuador. The only game that was truly an upset was our home defeat to Chile.

We have earned plenty of credit in the earlier stages of the qualifiers. We brought back victories from Chile and Colombia, as well as draws from Peru and Argentina. Up to the game against Chile, we had won all our home games. It is this credit which has kept us in the top four of the standings in this bumpy phase this year. It won’t be enough to carry us to the World Cup though, we have take another big step and win again!

Looking ahead, we have one away and three home games left. We’ll see Bolivia and Argentina in the Defensores del Chaco next week. Everything ends in October when we visit Venezuela first, then receive Colombia at home.

How we do against Bolivia on Saturday will dictate our future performances. Nelson Haedo has stressed the importance of the game against Bolivia. A victory on Bolivia would certainly invigorate us for Argentina, where we could clinch our qualification.

Even though Bolivia isn’t high in the standings, they are a tough team. They’ve demonstrated this with their victory on Argentina and their draw when they visited Brazil. Still, we have what it takes to take another big step and keep the three points at home.

Argentina plays Brazil in Rosario, and may very well arrive to Asuncion with a defeat on their backs. I suspect such a crisis would further weaken them before entering the Defensores del Chaco. Regardless of the outcome in Rosario, we should still be able to win.

Two more big steps and we’ll have earned our qualification to South Africa!

VAMOS ALBIRROJA!!

There weren’t many surprises in the 25-man list. The most notable absence is that of Roque Santa Cruz who is recovering from knee surgery and has now been inactive for 5 months. Some players that are returning to the first team include Antonlin Alcaraz, Miguel Samudio, and Jorge Achucarro. Alcaraz has never been called for an official match and he may even get some playing time considering Julio Cesar Caceres’ one match suspension.

Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Valladolid – SPA), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño – PAR)
Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellín – COL)

Defenders: Carlos Bonet (Olimpia – PAR), Denis Caniza (Nacional – PAR), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland – ENG), Julio César Cáceres (Boca Juniors – ARG), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo – ARG), Antolín Alcaraz (Brujas – BEL), Claudio Morel Rodríguez (Boca Juniors – ARG), Darío Verón (Pumas – MEX), Marcos Cáceres (Rácing – ARG), Miguel Samudio ( Libertad – PAR).

Midfielders: Víctor Cáceres (Libertad – PAR), Enrique Vera (LDU de Quito – ECU), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburgo – GER), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul – MEX), Eduardo Ledesma (Lanús – ARG), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta – ITA), Osvaldo Martínez (Monterrey – MEX)

Forwards: Nelson Haedo Valdez (Borussia Dortmund – GER), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica – POR), Edgar Benítez (Pachuca – MEX), Jorge Achucarro (Newell’s Old Boys – ARG), Salvador Cabañas (América – MEX).

Fuerza Albirroja!!!!!!!!

Surprises
Rodrigo Burgos (Cerro Porteno) has been called. Although the midfielder is not starting in his club, he had an excellent U-20 World Cup qualifier which has earned the 19 year-old a place on the list.

Miguel Samudio, left back from Libertad, was called for the first time. The 22 year-old has been having and excellent season in the Copa Libertadores, where Libertad has won all its games so far. Congratulations Samudio!

Eduardo Ledesma, a 23 year-old playing for Lanus (Argentina). This is the midfielder’s first call. His team was recently eliminated from the Copa Libertadores.

Other players that are making a comeback are Julio Manzur, Pedro Benitez, Sergio Aquino, and Diego Barreto (Edgar’s brother). At last, the talented Marcelo Estigarribia is also coming back.

Injured Players
Roque Santa Cruz will NOT come. Even though he was called, hours later his name was withdrawn due to a knee injury that will not recover in time for the games.
Claudio Morel Rodriguez (Boca Juniors, Argentina) will not be available either. He recently missed his Copa Libertadores match against Guarani.

Uruguay and Ecuador will be very tough. We have brought back points from Montevideo before, but of all our home games, I think Uruguay gave us the worst time. They will be tough to swallow. We have never brought points back from Ecuador, not since the present format for qualifying has been in use.

Any predictions on how Paraguay will do? I settle for two points.

VAMOS ALBIRROJA!

Complete List

Goalkeepers:
Justo Villar (Valladolid, Spain), Aldo Bobadilla (DIM, Colombia) y Diego Barreto (Sol de América).

Defenders:
Darío Verón (Pumas, Mexico), Julio Cáceres (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Julio Manzur (Libertad), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Carlos Bonet (Cruz Azul, Mexico), Pedro Benítez (Tigres, Mexico), Paulo Da Silva (Toluca, Mexico), Denis Caniza (Olimpia), Miguel Samudio (Libertad).

Midfielders:
Enrique Vera (America, Mexico), Edgar Barreto (Reggina, Italy), Osvaldo Martínez (Monterrey, Mexico), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul, Mexico), Jonathan Santana (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Victor Cáceres (Libertad), Sergio Aquino (Libertad), Eduardo Ledesma (Lanus, Argentina), Marcelo Estigarribia (Le Mans, Francia), Rodrigo Burgos (Cerro Porteño).

Strikers:
Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers, England)-WITHDRAWN, Nelson Haedo (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Salvador Cabañas (América, Mexico), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica, Portugal), Edgar Benítez (Pachuca, Mexico), Jorge Achucharo (Atlas, Mexico).