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New Straits TimesPARAGUAY have made the last 16 at the last two World Cup Finals and with their brand of tight play will be hoping to do the same at Germany 2006.
They also made the second round at Mexico 1986, their modern teams presenting a more effective challenge than those at the tournaments of 1930, 1950 and 1958, where they fell in the first round.
Paraguay came fourth in their qualifying group, grabbing the final direct place for the Finals ahead of more illustrious contenders like Uruguay, Colombia and Chile.
They booked their ticket to Germany in an away match against Venezuela, where a single goal from Nelson Haedo Valdes was enough to take all three points. Also in qualifying they got their first ever World Cup win over Argentina.
Paraguay have a strong leader in their Uruguayan coach Anibal ‘Mano’ Ruiz, who won the ‘Best Coach of the Americas’ award in 2005 for his work with the ‘Guarani’, as Paraguay are known.
A word of warning to their group rivals — it took champions France to beat them in 1998 and runners-up Germany in 2002, both times by slender 1-0 margins.They have been drawn in Group B with England, Sweden and Trinidad and Tobago and will have their work cut out if they hope to make the last 16.
The side Ruiz will lead out in Germany is somewhat changed from 2002, the most notable absentee being goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert, famous for his eight international goals.
One old face still in the running though is central defender and national captain Carlos Gamarra, who plays with Palmeiras in Brazil.
Young striker Roque Santa Cruz, built like a giant, has been a regular feature at Bayern Munich for some time now, while Paraguay's fresh-faced playmaker Julio dos Santos left Cerro Porteno for Bayern in the 2005-06 close season.
For his part Haedo Valdes is also a fixture in Germany with Werder Bremen, and the 21-year-old has been terrorising defences this season.
Other experienced players are midfielder Roberto ‘Toro’ Acuna who plays with Spain's Deportivo Coruna, while defenders Delio Toledo and Jorge Nunez are at Real Zaragoza and Racing Club of Argentina respectively.
Paraguay were bronze medallists at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where they fielded a string of impressive youngsters such as Cristian Riveros, Dante Lopez and Jose Montiel. — AFP
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'Player to watch:The Bombardier'ON Oct 8, 2005 Paraguay were playing Venezuela in a World Cup qualifying match at the Jose Pachencho Romero de Maracaibo Stadium, where it is always tough to beat the hosts, and after an hour's play it was still deadlocked.
Then in the 65th minute, the Paraguayans launched a counter attack down the right and a cross found
Nelson Valdez who dummied, and then hit a powerful shot which found the back of the net.
The Werder Bremen striker had just propelled his country into the World Cup Finals in Germany.
The young player, just 21, is not about to quickly forget his first international goal which made him a hero in his homeland despite yet having to play a top level football in Paraguay.
Born in San Joaquin, a small urban region situated some 200km from the capital of Asuncion, the farmer’s son was introduced to Werder Bremen president who was visiting Paraguay.
He was 18 and the year 2001.
At the time, the young Nelson Haedo Valdez lived underneath the stands of the stadium belonging to Atletico Tembetary, a modest Second Division club.
"When it rained, I couldn't sleep," he recalls.
In September 2005, he won the hearts of the Asuncion public who gave him a standing ovation after the match against Argentina.
‘The German Bombardier’, as he was known, had given the Argentines a mighty fright with a rasping shot that slammed against the post in the 82nd minute.
In the end, that missed chance did not matter as Paraguay went on to beat Argentina for the first time in World Cup qualifying.
Valdez was voted Man of The Match.
Lively, decisive, an opportunist with great heading skills, Nelson Valdez is renowned in Germany for his important strikes. — AFP