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WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN
PARAGUAY
Paraguay are the South American dark horses who emerged as a surprise package in the qualifiers, but without star names or famous faces and a goalkeeper whose madness easily rivals King George, they still believe they can upset some of the big boys. Of course they do.
"NOBODY knows much about us, and that suits us just fine," says Paraguay's Brazilian coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani. "We'll be travelling to France as underdogs, so there will be no pressure on us. But we are capable of reaching the second round. Carpegiani has become a hero to millions of Paraguayans after steering them to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986 and since taking over as national boss in early 1996, Carpegiani has revolutionised the fortunes of the national team.
Paraguay stormed through the South American section of the France 98 qualifiers - at one stage they were unbeaten in nine matches - and have become a well-organised unit that concedes very few goals. It's a good job their defence is pretty well watertight though, because the Paraguayan attack tends to be a little goal-shy.
The South Americans will have more foreign-based players in their squad than almost any other team at France 98. Their entire defensive back line plays with clubs in Argentina and Brazil, but Carpegiani has taken the experience and confidence that the Paraguayans have gained at clubs such as River Plate and Palmeiras and moulded the individuals into a strong team.
The one player you will certainly become acquainted with is goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, who can affectionately be described as a talented lunatic. Chilavert, who plays his club football in Argentina for Velez Sarsfeld, is not just an exceptional keeper. He also takes free-kicks and penalties and has scored more than 40 goals in his professional career, including four strikes for his country. He even upset his adopted nation with a superb free-kick against Argentina in Buenos Aires during the qualifiers.
Chilavert is a fearsome character with an appalling disciplinary record he whacked Colombia's ‘mild-mannered' Tino Asprilla during a qualifier and was banned for several games - and appropriately wears a cartoon of a snarling bulldog on his shirt. He is outspoken both on and off the pitch and has been extremely vocal in support of players' rights and against agents. "The commercialisation of football has broken the taste barrier," he said recently. "The players are the cleanest part of the game today. 80 per cent of people involved in football are there for their own profit."
Chilavert, as befits his larger-than-life persona, is nothing if not confident of Paraguay's chances in France. However, a number of things could count against the country which faces Spain, Bulgaria and Nigeria in its group games. They lack firepower up front and their recent friendly results haven't been good, including a draw with Japan and defeat at the hands of the Czech Republic in the Kirin Cup.
Paraguay are also notoriously poor travellers. They won seven of their eight qualifying games at home, but triumphed just twice away from Asuncion, where the high altitude worked in their favour and allowed them to pluck some great results literally out of thin air.
They could be brought down to earth with a nasty bump in France. But at least they will be good for entertainment with Senor Chilavert in the ranks.
THE GREATS
Julio Cesar Romero
Roberto Fernandez
Jose Luis Chilavert
STRANGE BUT TRUE
1. Chilavert received a three-month suspended jail sentence for punching a ballboy in April 1994.
2. Midfielder Roberto Acuna is known as "The Bull".
BIGGEST WIN
7-0 v Bolivia, April 30, 1949
MOST EMBARRASSING DEFEAT
8-1 v Argentina, December 8, 1964
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WORLD CUP HISTORY
PARAGUAY have competed in four previous World Cup finals, the last time in 1986, when they reached the second round for the first and only time in their history.
The Paraguayans were one of the original World Cup finalists in Uruguay in 1930, but they were not a success. They lost 3-0 to the USA and their 1-0 win over Belgium was academic as the USA had already claimed top spot in the group and a place in the second round.
In 1950, Paraguay held Sweden to a draw, but were beaten 2-0 by Italy and finished bottom of their opening round group. Eight years later in Sweden, Paraguay were hammered 7-3 by France, for whom Just Fontaine scored a hat-trick, but then bounced back with a 3-2 win over Scotland. In their final group match, Paraguay needed a win over Yugoslavia. A thrilling match ended 3-3, but Yugoslavia went through to the second round, and Paraguay had to wait a massive 36 years before they had another crack at the World Cup.
In Mexico 86, Paraguay had their most successful tournament ever. They beat Iraq and drew with both Mexico and Belgium to reach the second round, where they faced England. Bobby Robson's side proved too strong, and two goals from Gary Lineker and an effort from Peter Beardsley sealed Paraguay's fate.
WORLD CUP FINALS RECORD
Year Round reached
1930 First round
1934 Did not enter
1938 Did not enter
1950 First round
1954 Did not enter
1958 First round
1962 Did not qualify
1966 Did not qualify
1970 Did not qualify
1974 Did not qualify
1978 Did not qualify
1982 Did not qualify
1986 Second round
1990 Did not qualify
1994 Did not qualify
Total games played 11, won 3, drawn 4, lost 4, goals for 16, goals against 25
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HOW PARAGUAY QUALIFIED
PARAGUAY emerged as the surprise team of the South American qualifying section after Argentina and Colombia had begun the campaign as clear favourites to reach France. That effectively left seven other countries to fight it out for the remaining two places - and all of Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay were seen as better bets to qualify than Paraguay.
Brazilian coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani took charge of the national side before the qualifying campaign began, and quickly made his presence known. His new team overcame the disappointment of losing to Colombia in their opening match to string together a nine-match unbeaten run which took them to the top of the table.
Carpegiani's success was built upon a strong to compensate for the paucity of talent up front. Despite scoring the fewest goals of the South American qualifiers, they booked their place in France with a 1-0 home win over Venezuela when they still had one game left to play.
South American section (including scorers for Paraguay)
24.04.96 Colombia 1 Paraguay 0
02.06.96 Uruguay 0 Paraguay 2 (Arce, Rojas)
01.09.96 Argentina 1 Paraguay 1 (Chilavert)
09.10.96 Paraguay 2 Chile 1 (Gamarra, Rivarola)
10.11.96 Paraguay 1 Ecuador 0 (Benitez)
15.12.96 Bolivia 0 Paraguay 0
12.01.97 Venezuela 0 Paraguay 2 (Benitez, Ensico)
12.02.97 Paraguay 2 Peru 1 (Rivarola, Rojas)
02.04.97 Paraguay 2 Colombia 1 (Gamarra, Soto)
30.04.97 Paraguay 3 Uruguay 1 (Rojas, Cardozo, Soto)
06.07.97 Paraguay 1 Argentina 2 (Acuna)
20.07.97 Chile 2 Paraguay 1 (Brizuela)
20.08.97 Ecuador 2 Paraguay 1 (Graciani)
10.09.97 Paraguay 2 Bolivia 1 (Benitez, Gamarra)
12.10.97 Paraguay 1 Venezuela 0 (Torres)
16.11.97 Peru 1 Paraguay 0
Top scorers: Benitez, Rojas and Gamarra (all with three goals)
P W D L F A Pts
Argentina 16 8 6 2 23 13 30
*Paraguay 16 9 2 5 21 14 29
Colombia 16 8 4 4 23 15 28
Chile 16 7 4 5 32 18 25
Peru 16 7 4 5 19 20 25
Ecuador 16 6 3 7 22 21 21
Uruguay 16 6 3 7 18 21 21
Bolivia 16 4 5 7 18 21 17
Venezuela 16 0 3 13 8 41 3
*Paraguay qualify for finals
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FRANCE 98 FIXTURES
v Bulgaria, 12 June, Montpellier
Chilavert and Co open a tough group against a Bulgarian side who have seen better days and are arguably the weakest team in the group.
v Spain, June 19, Saint-Etienne
Avoiding defeat will be the name of the game against one of the tournament favourites.
v Nigeria, June 24, Toulouse
A potentially explosive encounter with both teams likely to be needing a victory to take them through to the second round.
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