Paraguay is scheduled to play against Ecuador in Asunción on November 11 at 19:00 ET and Chile in Santiago on Nov. 15 18:30 ET.

Paraguay has to send a clear message by winning both games. As far as I remember we usually win both of these games. The last time we played in Santiago we won 3-0.

I don’t see why the next game should be any different. I still think this team is better than the one that went to the World Cup. The new players in the midfield, Marcelo Estigarribia and Hernan Perez, really bring a lot of quality to one of our traditionally weakest sectors. Julio Dos Santos is also a very technically gifted player. He should be a good addition. My main concern is having a sufficiently creative midfield that will be able to feed Cardozo the balls he is used to putting away. We should be getting closer to that goal.

Roque Santacruz has requested to take a break from these games and Justo Villar is injured. The other notable absences are Jonathan Santana and Nestor Ortigoza. Their time in the Albirroja is probably over under “Chiqui” Arce. I’m not sure about Santana but I’m happy Ortigoza is finally out. I agree he is a creative player, but he is just too slow to play in Paraguay. He has given up several ball that ended up in opposing goals during the Copa America.

Call-Ups

Goalkeepers: Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño) and Anthony Silva (Deportes Tolima, Colombia).

Defenders: Paulo Da Silva (Zaragoza, Spain), Darío Verón (Pumas UNAM, Mexico), Antolín Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic, England), Iván Piris (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Carlos Bonet (Libertad), Richard Ortiz (Olimpia) y Miguel Samudio (Libertad).

Midfielders: Cristian Riveros (Kayserispor, Turkey), Edgar Barreto (Palermo, Italy), Marcelo Estigarribia (Juventus, Italy), Hernán Pérez (Villarreal, Spain), Víctor Cáceres (Libertad), Sergio Aquino (Libertad), Julio Dos Santos (Cerro Porteño), Víctor Ayala (Libertad).

Strikers: Nelson Haedo (Rubín Kazán, Russia), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica, Portugal), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Lorenzo Melgarejo (Pacos de Ferreira, Portugal), Luis Caballero (Olimpia), Pablo Zeballos (Olimpia), Edgar Benítez (Cerro Porteño).

Francisco “Chiqui” Arce is at the very root of Paraguay’s World Cup qualifying success that began in 1996. A great memory of Arce is from the France 1998 World Cup qualifier. The setting was the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Uruguay. After losing in the first match day to Colombia, Paraguay travelled to Uruguay for another very difficult game. Halfway through the first half there was a free-kick for Paraguay. “Chiqui” Arce stood before the ball, fired, and scored. The game was close, but towards the end of the match, Aristides “la Flecha” Rojas pounced on the counter and buried Uruguay 2-0.

The day Arce scored on Uruguay in the Centenario, Paraguay began a journey of football success that has never ended. More than twenty years later there is a whole generation of Paraguayans who have never seen a World Cup without Paraguay and possibly cannot even imagine it. I imagine young footballers feel the same way, they cannot say they will try to qualify for the World Cup. They have to.

It all started with Francisco Arce and it is now his job to continue this success. Arce’s coaching career is not nearly as rich and accomplished as his playing career. As a player, he had an eight year spell in Brazil playing in Gremio and Palmeiras, where he won the Copa Libertadores with each club once. Among the most influential coaches in his life are Sergio Markarian, Paulo Cesar Carpegiani, and Luis Felipe Scolari. The first two coached Arce in various Paraguayan national teams. Arce played for Markarian during the Barcelona 1992 Olympics and the qualifier for the Korea Japan 2002 World Cup (Markarian was sacked right before the World Cup). Carpegiani coached Arce during the France 1998 World Cup. These are Arce’s main credentials as a coach, having prolonged experiences with some of the coaching greats.

As a coach, he has lead Rubio Ñu in Paraguay for four years now. His main achievement with Rubio Ñu is keeping this recently ascended team high on the table for several seasons. However short his coaching experience, Arce’s experience makes him an extremely wise manager. In just two friendly games, Arce has made a great impact on Paraguay’s game, the most remarkable of which has been Paraguay’s 3-0 demolition of Honduras in San Pedro Sula.

This self-described low profile man has had much greater exposure to the press since his appointment. In these press exchanges, he expressed himself softly but with great assertion. He does not beat around the bush and has said he does not want to be “politically correct”. You better believe that since there are already many reports circulating in the internet he said he believes many people in Paraguay want him to fail. It is more than likely people are still surprised the faith the president of the Paraguayan association has put in a man will clearly limited coaching experience. Some of his statements also come off as arrogant, very far from the usually easy-going Paraguayan style.

Still, I think Arce will prove his critics wrong and will lead Paraguay to new great success. This Friday will be Arce’s first test of fire, his first World Cup qualifier in Lima, against Peru. The manager on the opposing team will be his long time mentor Sergio Markarian. The squad Paraguay is taking is loaded with talent and quality. In addition to that, several key players are doing very well in their clubs. Edgar Barreto is playing in a leading team of the Italian Serie A. Oscar Cardozo recently scored on Manchester United and Roque Santa Cruz has also been scoring and playing regularly. On top of that, Hernan Perez has finally played for Villarreal and scored.

Just like Arce lead Paraguay to a win against Uruguay on the road more than 20 years ago, he will lead Paraguay to another great win in the World Cup 2014 opener.

Fuerza Paraguay!

Still, Martino has the complete backing of the Paraguayan Association and may remain if he wishes to do so.

There are already several names circling the position of Paraguay coach: Jorge Fossati, Gregorio Perez, and Francisco “Chiqui” Arce are the names that are sounding the loudest. The Paraguayan media is strongly endorsing the Paraguayan “Chiqui” Arce, who has successfully managed Rubio Ñu for several years though he has not obtained any titles.

Personally, I would prefer a proven coach who has obtained titles like Jorge Fossati. Gregorio Perez is also a very good coach who I believe has yet to obtain a title.

If Martino announces his resignation tomorrow, the pool of candidates to run our beloved “Albirroja” will certainly grow.

We had a very good World Cup. We frightened Italy, properly beat Slovakia, and struggled with New Zealand. We ran into Japan in the Round of 16 and predictably went through them as well (that would have been a horrible upset for us). We had an epic quarterfinal match against Spain which was probably one of the best matches of the tournament. It had a little bit of everything including luck and injustice. Nelson Haedo was incorrectly disallowed a goal in the first half and Oscar Cardozo failed to convert a penalty minutes before the end of the game. Eventually, Spain scored and we were out. In short, we had the EVENTUAL World Champions on their knees but failed to deliver the finishing stroke. This defeat demonstrated we were at the level of the World Champions and had we gone through, I’m sure we would have taken everybody else out of the tournament. How has this been so easily forgotten?

I am absolutely amazed by how much credit Uruguay has been given before the Copa America. A lot of this credit rides on their semifinal run in South Africa last year, which for me was very “lucky”. They didn’t face a big European team until the semifinals. Exaggerating a little bit, they were administratively dealt with by the Dutch. They were down 3-1 almost the entire second half. While we deserved or were close to defeating the eventual World Champions, Uruguay was pretty quickly dismissed by the Netherlands, who DID NOT win the title. Can you see why I think Paraguay has more credit than Uruguay?

It is clear to me the historical powers of South America are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, in that order. But since 1998, only Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay have been going regularly to every World Cup. We have gotten ahead of Uruguay in World Cup attendances and I am also convinced we were a better team in South Africa last year.

Favorites for Copa America.

Hearing that Brazil and Argentina were favorites for the title was fine with me. I also accepted hearing Uruguay in this group since getting to the semifinal is a great achievement no matter how lucky they were. But I find it flat out insulting when the media names Chile or even Colombia ahead of Paraguay. Chile was destroyed by Spain in the World Cup and Colombia hasn’t been on the world stage in over twenty years!

Today only the real candidates remain on their feet. Even though we have not had the best quarterfinal and semifinal games in this Copa America, we deserve and have earned the position we are in. I heard they compared us to Greece 2004 today. What has Greece ever done over a period of twenty years to be given such a great compliment!!!

We are digging in for the final, and our warriors are ready for the final battle cry. On Sunday we will see what Uruguay is really made of.

Vamos Albirroja Querida!!!

Revenge! Sweet Revenge!. This is how the latest victory of our beloved Albirroja over Brazil felt last Saturday. After both regulation and over time finished in a 0-0 draw, Paraguay were much better at keeping their nerve and scoring their penalty kicks while Brazil fired three shots wide or high and one penalty kick was saved by Villar.

They didn’t beat us in the group stage game (2-2), but their last minute equalizer in that game surely felt like we were robbed of a deserved victory.

I have been hoping for a play-off game against Brazil ever since the World Cup. I finally got the GAME and the WIN as I was hoping and expecting.

Given the Brazilian media’s arrogant and vicious treatment of Paraguay, taking Brazil out of the tournament makes this victory particularly flavorful. The Copa America quarterfinals is as good as venue as any.

We have the right to keep dreaming for a title we haven’t achieved since 1979.

The game
It has been a very long time since I have seen Paraguay on the defensive end of such a one-sided game. Justo Villar became a hero after at least three spectacular saves against Lucio, “Pato”, and “Ganso”. When Villar wasn’t there to make the save, Antolin Alcaraz and Edgar Barreto cleared the ball from the line. That’s five goal opportunities for Brazil right there, and I can remember at least one more opportunity Neymar fired wide.

Why was our performance so far from that of our group game? First, we evidently missed Roque Santa Cruz. He played both games he was in as a midfielder. Second, the other player who helped us in ball possession was Nestor Ortigoza. However, as I mentioned before, he is a defensive liability and is responsible for the first Venezuelan goal in the group stage. Finally, Maicon made a very big difference on the Brazilian side and we saw much less of Marcelo Estigarribia.

Although Martino didn’t give himself any credit for this win, I think playing Hernan Perez in the overtime gave a few precious minutes of relief to our defense. He came on, kept the ball, and even generated a few fouls on the Brazilian half.

The penalty kicks.
I love the images of the Brazilian players looking at the grass after missing their shots. It was the fault of the grass! What sore losers! I heard reports they had physicists explaining why the Brazilians missed all their penalty kicks. How ridiculous!

If anybody will listen to me, I can clearly explain why the Brazilians missed all the penalty kicks. As we say in Paraguay, “se cagaron todo!!!!”. That means they choked, but I don’t blame them. It can happen to anyone in their circumstances. When you shoot at a goalie for 120 minutes and he saves EVERYTHING you send his way, this has got to affect your nerves and it was evident among the Brazilian players. In Brazil, they probably still blame the grass.

Just a couple of notes about the game. We started the game with a lot of momentum, but this quickly faded when Nestor Ortigoza clumsily lost the ball right outside our penalty area. To make matters worse Veron didn’t know which way to go and fell in his effort to challenge their striker. From that moment on, things were uneasy for us. In our anxiety to draw the game we wildly opened ourselves up. The back line of three didn’t help this situation. The Venezuelans could have scored more in this time.

Later, we imposed our physical strength in a series of set pieces that gave us a 3-1 lead by the 86th minute, but we were still playing below the level of our previous games. This lead was undeserved, but I will take a win any day. What followed is something completely beyond explanation. Maybe we were over confident and thought the game was over. We conceded two goals in the 90th and 92nd minute of the game. As the memorable Roberto Cabañas said of the third goal on Fox Sports en Español, “It’s embarrassing to me that a Venezuelan goalie, without discrediting him, could head a ball at the 1st post on us.”

Paraguay Brazil Preview

I asked to meet Brazil in the World Cup and I didn’t get it. I asked to meet Brazil again after our group game in the Copa America and I am finally getting it. This isn’t my favorite way of meeting them, after a poor performance against Venezuela, but the Albirroja is full of men who will put that game in the past and come out against Brazil like a whipped horse.

In our first two games we showed that we are better now than in the World Cup. Venezuela unveiled some significant problems, but since they didn’t kill us we are stronger. Sunday’s game will be a great one, a game we will finally win!

Starting XI:

Villar
Veron, Da Silva, Alcaraz, Torres
Vera, Riveros, Caceres, Estigarribia,
Barrios, Haedo

Match Prediction:
Paraguay 2 – Brazil 1

Vamos Albirroja Carajo!!!!

After beginning the 2nd half down by 0-1, our efforts and teamwork paid off and we took a 2-1 lead to almost the last minute of the game. By that time, it looked like Brazil had nothing left, nothing left to say. But sure enough, a last minute distraction on our part allowed the very skillful Fred to fire and draw in the very last minute of the game.

I am proud of this talented and aggressive Paraguayan selection that are capable of beating anybody. We have been a little out of luck in these last two games since we deserved to beat both Ecuador and Brazil. Brazil in particular was very lucky.

I really hope we meet them again and beat them properly next time.

Some Player Comments

Justo Villar
Solid in the air and on the ground. He saved us from two one-on-one Brazilian goal opportunities.

Antolin Alcaraz
I liked his game very much. He continuously recovered balls and played them smartly during the whole game. However, he was out of position in Brazil’s second goal since only Da Silva and Torres challenged Fred.

Nestor Ortigoza
He is finally well adjusted to Paraguay. There is no reason to remove him from the team now.

Marcelo Estigarribia
He is the hidden gem of our team. He is having a great tournament and nobody is challenging his position anytime soon. He repeatedly outplayed Dany Alves the weasel. Alves made a clearly intentional handball in the Brazilian penalty area the referee did not call.

Roque Santacruz
He is taking great responsibility and delivering. This has been the best game of Santacruz in years for either club or country. As we say in Spanish, he is “putting the team on his shoulders”. Although he missed a clear scoring opportunity in the beginning of the game he calmly finished a brilliant assist from Estigarribia. He also assisted Haedo in our second goal.

Enrique Vera
Very spirited as usual, but it is a shame he missed the opportunity to bury Brazil 3-1, ten minutes before the end of the game.

Venezuela Preview.

This is will be a very difficult game for Paraguay. The type of game we are least comfortable with. We will have to attack continuously under the pressure of getting eliminated. Still, judging from how solidly we have been playing, I believe we will come out on top. It looks like draw will be enough to qualify, but what happens if both Paraguay and Brazil draw and have equal goals?

Venezuela handles the ball very well while this is still one of our weaknesses. Our physical strength and endurance should make the difference in our favor. This was particularly evident against Brazil. Did you see how the bulky Riveros pushed the feathery Dany Alves aside like an amateur in our 2nd goal? This should make a difference against Venezuela also.

I am optimistic, as usual, and I predict we will meet Venezuela again in the quarterfinals.

Vamos Albirroja!!!!

On Saturday July 9th we play against Brazil at 15:00 ET in Cordoba, Argentina. The game will be available on http://www.youtube.com/ as well as Univision.

What to expect?
This should be a very exciting game with both teams going for each other’s throat very quickly into the match. The key to our success will be to stay concentrated all 90 minutes. We don’t always achieve this, but it is harder to score against us when we do. The Brazilians will make us pay for any single distraction.

There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to beat Brazil and I am optimistic for a couple of reasons.

First, I think we proved to be a pretty dangerous team against Ecuador. We didn’t score, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen our Albirroja play that aggressively. That sometimes happens in our home games in the in the Defensores del Chaco, but it doesn’t happen that often abroad.

We will play like this again for some passages of the game against Brazil, but it is of monumental importance that we score this time during that passage of the game! It is much harder to score after things cool down! If we don’t, it will be a long afternoon of suffering.

Second, we should be able to suppress the Brazilian offense the whole game. We did this well in our home game in the qualifiers where we won 2-0 with 10 men in the second half. We also did this well for 50 minutes in our away game, after which we lost our concentration a little and they overturned a game we started winning 1-0. If we can continuously interrupt their passing game and press high on the field this Saturday, it has got to wear them out and give us time to hold the ball more patiently, avoiding our sporadic bursts of forward movement. Again, the key is to stay focused the whole game. We do that and the game is ours.

Possible XI:
Villar,
Veron, Da Silva, Alcaraz, Torres
Ortigoza, Vera, Riveros, Estigarribia
Santacruz, Haedo

There will be a couple of changes from our first game. Enrique Vera will come in for Barreto who is hurt. Piris will go back to the bench and Veron will move to cover the right-back position. Alcaraz will come back to the central defense like in the World Cup. After Barrios’ poor showing against Ecuador, Haedo will probably start. Estigarribia is playing for sure and it is his time to shine!

Who might be given a greater role? Zeballos? Martinez? I miss Tacuara!!!!!! How could Martino have left him out!!!

Prediction:
Paraguay 2 – Brazil 0.

We hit them once in the first half, and again after they start panicking in the 2nd half. No concessions.

Vamos Albirroja carajo!!!!

There was just one surprise in our starting XI, and it was the inclusion of Ortigoza instead of Vera. This is how we entered the field:

Starting XI:
Justo Villar,
Ivan Piris, Dario Veron, Paulo Da Silva, Aureliano Torres
Edgar Barreto, Nestor Ortigoza, Cristian Riveros, Marcelo Estigarribia
Lucas Barrios and Roque Santacruz.

Player comments:
Justo Villar: Slightly touched the ball in Ecuador’s clearest goal opportunity. He saved us and was solid in the rest of his interventions.

Ivan Piris: This was his Albirroja debut and it showed a little. As Martino said, people are used to seeing him play regularly at an excellent level for his club, but the Albirroja jersey weighs quite a bit more. Even though he did foul up some defensive play, he was solid other times speeding up down the side of the field. It was a very good debut for the 22 year old and I think he will get better adjusted as the tournament continuous.

Dario Veron: Rock solid, one of our best.

Paulo Da Silva: Played very well though he allowed a ball through his legs that led to Ecuador’s clearest goal opportunity. He also helped recover the ball in the same play.

Aureliano Torres: Can you help me? I did not see too much of him.

Cristian Riveros: He is always difficult for me to identify, though I noticed some good long balls by him in the 2nd half. Any help?

Edgar Barreto: He was doing well until he got hurt in the first half. He is likely to be out the rest of the tournament. He hurt the foot he endured surgery on before the World Cup.

Nestor Ortigoza: This is not one of my favorite players, but he was very active against Ecuador. He held the ball well and distributed play. He is one of our very few creative midfielders so he can make a very big difference if he is having a good day. He is not fast, so I’m worried he could be a defensive liability.

Marcelo Estigarribia: This player was definitely the revelation of the match. If he continues this high level of football, he has the potential to be the revelation of the tournament. As I believed, he was very active and attacked successfully. Two goal scoring opportunities came through him after he assisted Edgar Barreto first and Roque Santacruz later.

Roque Santacruz: I did not see him much during the first half, but our team relied heavily on him during the second half. His presence is comforting to the players in the midfield who know they can give him the ball and he will know what to do with it. He played mostly as a midfielder, and I think that is the only position we will see him play. He came close to scoring twice. First a long rang shot save by the goalie, then a well directed header the goalie miraculously saved.

Lucas Barrios: He was completely absent. He must have touched the ball three times. What is very worrying is that his partnership with Santacruz is poor, as if there is no chemistry. It looks like this game will cost him his position and Nelson Haedo will rightfully come on in the game against Brazil next Saturday.

Other alternatives:
I think it would be good to see Osvaldo Martinez rather than Pablo Zeballos come on at some point. He would be a good alternative for either Marcelo Estigarribia or Roque Santacruz since he is also one of our more creative players.

Fuerza Albirroja!!!!

Paraguay is stronger now than in the World Cup.

Some of our lines are going to have major changes in this event. The biggest change is in our defense. In the World Cup, Dario Verón, a central defender, played as right-back for lack of a better player in that position. This year both Ivan Piris and Marcos Caceres can play as right backs so Dario Verón will play as a central defender with Paulo Da Silva. Antolín Alcaraz will lose his position but we will be stronger in the back.

The midfield and offense have more subtle improvements but they are better none-the-less. Edgar Barreto played the World Cup last year after having been inactive for a year! This year he is healthy and he has actually been playing regularly for his club.

Finally, it looks like Marcelo Estigarribia, who didn´t go to the World Cup will have a major role in the Copa America. He is an attacking midfielder who actually plays more like a striker on the left. He is very skilled and I think he is going to give us a lot more depth than we generated in the World Cup.

The teams to beat will be Argentina and Brazil. Without Maradona, Argentina is definitely a stronger team this year. They didn’t win yesterday but they can rely on their individualities deep into the tournament. The Brazilian side has a couple of new faces and it is difficult to read whether they are stronger than in the World Cup. I have a feeling they are not, but they can never be underestimated and are capable of achieving even when they are discredited. The last Copa America is an example.

Paraguay vs. Ecuador July 3, 17:30ET. Channel: Telefutura
As usual, Martino has been keeping the line-up to himself and the press has been very critical of this secrecy. What I gather from several reports of how he has been standing his men on the field is that Paraguay will play a false 4-4-2. I say false because with Estigarribia it will be more like a 4-3-3.

Villar,
Piris, Veron, Da Silva, Torres
Barreto, Vera, Riveros, Estigarribia
Barrios, Santacruz

Prediction: Paraguay 2 – Ecuador 0.

Fuerza Albirroja!