Final Copa America Squad

June 28th, 2011 | by: Victor | View Comments

Practice in Cordoba
Paraguay is settled and training in Cordoba, I think they are using the facilities the recently ascended Belgrano uses.

This is the final 23-man squad for the Copa America that starts this weekend!

Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Valladolid, España), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño), Roberto Fernández (Racing, Argentina).

Defenders: Paulo Da Silva (Zaragoza, Spain), Marcos Cáceres (Racing, Argentina), Antolín Alcaraz (Wigan, England), Darío Verón (Pumas, Mexico), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Iván Piris (Cerro Porteño), Elvis Marecos (Guaraní)

Midfielders: Víctor Cáceres (Libertad), Cristian Riveros (Sunderland, England), Néstor Ortigoza (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Jonathan Santana (Kayserispor, Turquía), Enrique Vera (Liga de Quito, Ecuador), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta, Italy) y Hernán Pérez (Villarreal, Spain).

Strikers: Roque Santacruz (Blackburn, England), Osvaldo Martínez (Monterrey, México), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Hércules, Spain), Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell’s Old Boys, Argentina), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Pablo Zeballos (Olimpia).
Martino giving instructions

These are the players that got dropped:
Goalkeepers: Joel Silva (Guaraní)
Defenders: Miguel Samudio (Libertad), Luis Cardozo (Cerro Porteño) and Ismael Benegas (Rubio Ñú).
Midfielders: Osmar Molinas (Olimpia)
Strikers: Orlando Gaona Lugo (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Federico Santander (Toulouse FC, France), Julián Benítez (Guaraní).

Decision process
Martino made some pretty interesting choices here. In goal, he kept “Gatito” Fernandez instead of Joel Silva. This is new because, Martino has some times used Silva as his third goalie. “Gatito” Fernandez is the son of Roberto “El Gato” Fernandez, a hero of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was the goalkeeper who saved a penalty-kick from Hugo Sanchez for our 1-1 draw to Mexico.

Martino clearly explained his thinking about keeping players like Elvis Marecos and Pablo Zeballos. He wants to have as many different alternatives as possible and he thinks Marecos brings different tools to the team than Aureliano Torres as Pablo Zeballos brings different skills than Santa Cruz or Barrios. By this, he is implying that some of the players that got dropped are very similar Aureliano Torres or Santa Cruz/Barrios.

If this is the case, I agree with his choice of keeping Pablo Zeballos over Federico Santander, but I don’t think his choice of Elvis Marecos over Miguel Samudio is as clear. Miguel Samudio has something that I don’t think Aureliano Torres has, he is very skillful in finding space and crossing the ball very precisely. Roque has never scored for Paraguay as easily as he did against Romania, and this is all thanks to Samudio’s cross. We have also seen plenty of Samudio in the Libertadores, and I have seen at least one more similar goal. Aureliano has better long distance shots on goal, but I don’t think he can cross the like Samudio. I have observed Marecos to little to talk about what he brings to the team.

Players that have become history
It is unlikely we will see Julio Cesar Caceres or Claudio Morel Rodriguez in the Albirroja again. Morel Rodriguez is playing at the highest level of his life in Deportivo La Coruña, but I would be surprised if he was called back. It is unclear to me why Morel was left out.

Players who should/might be considered in the future
Jose Ortigoza (Cruzeiro) should be given another opportunity in the future. This is a very skillful player. Jonathan Fabbro is also crying to be called by Tata Martino. I am happy he hasn’t. This player single-evenhandedly ruined Guarani’s Copa Libertadores campaign in 2009. He caused a lot of dressing room problems in Guarani at the time and he seems to be a pretty difficult guy. I’d hate to see him cause similar trouble in the Albirroja. Is he good enough? I think he is. I’m sure he is much better than the pot-bellied Ortigoza!

Biggest Snub
I still can’t believe the most prolific Paraguayan striker at the moment is out. I think I have an idea why, but it is not a very solid reason. Except for Nelson Haedo, all the forwards Martino has kept on the list can dribble. Oscar “Tacuara” Cardozo is a consummate finisher and is rarely seen dribbling the ball. His style of play often makes it look like he isn’t doing much or contributing very little. I disagree because I think he is one of those players that does more without the ball than in possession. But if this is the reason, I’m worried Cardozo won’t even be called for the World Cup qualifiers. I’m not convinced of this reason, because it does not explain the exclusion of “Pajaro” Benitez, a guy who can probably carry the ball better than Nelson Haedo!

Fuerza Albirroja!!!!!