Bordered by Argentina on it's South and Southwest area, Brazil on it's east and northeast regions and Bolivia on it's northwest, Paraguay is often referred to as the Heart of America. The nation is placed centrally in South America, with the Paraguay River forming the backbone of the nation.
It has an estimated population of 6.3 million, with a large number of them being Mestizo's (A mixture of European and Native American descent). Spanish is the widely spoken language but the Guarani's (culturally related indigenous people) have indeed stuck to their language as well. One obvious fact is that they gained independence from Spain, which explains the influence of the Spanish language in this country.
Asuncion is the capital of the country and indeed, the largest city present over there with more than 2 million inhabitants. The city attracts widespread attention from lots of other countries due to it's Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which contains old historic paintings from the 19th century. Also not forgetting the National Pantheon of Heroes, which is the smaller version of Les Invalides in Paris.
Paraguay is currently the best economy-wise growing country in South America despite 30-50% of their population living in poverty. Nonetheless, culture and tradition has kept them moving on, with football being not only the most popular sport, but also the embodiment of their culture as a whole.
People will certainly remember William Paats as the man that introduced football to the Paraguayan culture and an official national football association was formed back in 1906. They were part of the historical first ever World Cup back in 1930 in Uruguay where they did reasonably well, losing 3-0 to USA but bouncing back to secure a 1-0 win over Belgium and Luis Vargas Pena officially became the nation's first ever World Cup goalscorer.
The national football team of Paraguay slowly became a sensation on the streets and players like Carlos Gamarra and Jose Cardozo captivated fans of Los Guaraníes generation after generation. The countries footballing profile has been on a rise in recent times with their best ever World Cup finish coming last year, when they progressed all the way into the quarter-finals, only to be defeated by eventual champions, Spain.
A Recap Of Paraguay's Copa America History
Los Guaranies have a pretty decent Copa America record in terms of general statistics. They are placed fourth in the general stats table behind Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Moreover, they have won the competition twice in their history together with Peru also. However, it has been 32 years since they lasted tasted glory back in 1979 and Gerrardo Martino now has the task of improving their fortunes.
They first glided into the Copa America scene back in 1921 and started with a major upset of then-favorites, Uruguay, beating them 2-1 in their first match. Paraguay eventually finished fourth and that set the benchmark for their following participations.
1953 was indeed a glorious year for Paraguayan Football as they clinched their first ever major trophy by winning the Copa America. Three victories over Chile, Bolivia and Brazil plus with two draws against Uruguay and Ecuador placed them at the top of the lot together with Brazil.
A play-off against the Brazilians was needed to determine the champions and Paraguay eventually prevailed by beating the Samba Boys 3-2 on the day. Angel Berni and Ruben Fernandez stole the show for them throughout the whole tournament.
The 1979 triumph was not only a memorable outing for Paraguay but also Euginio Morel as he finished the tournament as joint top scorer with Jorge Peredo of Chile. By this time around, the format of Copa America had already been altered.
Los Guaranies led by Ranulfo Miranda stayed unbeaten throughout the group stages, winning twice against Ecuador and drawing twice against Uruguay. They finished as group winners and progressed into the semi-finals, where they ultimately defeated the mighty Brazilians 4-3 on aggregate. Chile were the opposition in the final but once again, Los Guaranies came out superior, winning 3-1 on aggregate.
Since then, they have never won the tournament yet, despite consistently making it through into the quarter-finals and semi finals (once).
Champions: 1953, 1979
Second place: 1922, 1929, 1947, 1949, 1963
Third place: 1923, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1946, 1959,
Fourth place: 1921, 1926, 1937, 1942, 1967, 1989
Semi-finals: 1983
Fifth place: 1955, 1956, 1959,
Quarter-finals: 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007
Round 1: 1975, 1987, 1991, 2001
Withdrew: 1927, 1935, 1941, 1945, 1957
Did Not Enter: 1916-1920 (Four Editions)
Paraguay's 2011 Copa America Coach And Squad
Paraguay's coach:
Gerardo Martino was a former Argentinean player that mostly featured for Newell's Old Boys in Rosario. He was pretty popular within that club, holding the record for most appearances with 505 and is regarded as the best player to have played for the club. As a coach, Martino won the Paraguayan League won times with two different clubs.
In 2007, he was appointed as the coach for Paraguay's national team and guided them into the quarter-finals of the 2007 Copa America. Subsequently, he was awarded with the South America Coach of the Year award for his efforts. Martino also increased his reputation by masterminding Paraguay's first ever venture into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup last year. He was supposed to resign after the tournament but agreed to continue after the upcoming Copa America.
Paraguay's 2011 Copa America 23-man squad roster:
Goalkeepers: Justo Villar, Diego Barreto, Roberto Fernandez
Defenders: Paulo Da Silva, Antolin Alcaraz, Dario Veron, Aureliano Torres, Marcos Caceres, Ivan Piris, Elvis Marecos
Midfielders: Cristian Riveros, Edgar Barreto, Victor Caceres, Nestor Ortigoza, Jonathan Santana, Hernan Perez
Attackers: Roque Santa Cruz, Nelson Haedo Valdez, Lucas Barrios, Osvaldo Martinez, Marcelo Estigarribia, Pablo Zeballos
The Top Quote From Paraguay’s Camp Ahead Of The 2011 Copa America
Coach Gerardo Martino to CA2011.com:
"Nobody uses Copa America to practice and we are not the exception. It would be better if Argentina or Brazil had been World champion, then this Copa America would be just a practice to the next World Cup, in 2014.
"If we are good and in the same place we were in the 2010 World Cup, as a team and individually, we will be on top. But it all depends on the training weeks, because in these tournaments, the more players you can put in your game plan, the better your chances."
