Team overview
By Scott French | @ScottJFrench |
Paraguay has never been among South America's elite, but it’s long had a knack for playing the big powers tight and has found itself advancing beyond expectations again and again.
Argentine manager Raul Diaz, no matter Jose Luis Chilavert's public misgivings, could have Paraguay ready for another run after taking it to the semifinals in last year's Copa America. He's blooded 18 players, nine of them making this final Copa roster, since taking charge 18 months ago, overhauling an aging roster that counts over-30s Roque Santa Cruz (34), Paulo Da Silva (36), Nelson Valdez (32) and goalkeeper Justo Villar (38) among the contributors.
Younger stars who emerged during the appalling 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign -- Paraguay went 3-10-3 and finished last in CONMEBOL after playing in the four previous World Cups -- have taken on bigger roles, including defenders Miguel Samudio and Pablo Aguilar, home-based defender Bruno Valdez and Dynamo Kyiv forward Derlis Gonzalez.
Key player
The big names up front for Paraguay are Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Valdez, but Dario Lezcano, a 25-year-old striker who has played in Europe since 2008, looks like the future. He's fast and powerful, is a pure finisher and can deliver a deadly free kick. He can be fiery, too, served an eight-game ban last year while with Switzerland’s Luzern for pushing a referee, knocking away the red card he'd just been shown.
He got his shot with the national team when CONMEBOL's qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup kicked off the following month, and he’s started all five matches since, scoring four goals in the last three outings.
He's still traveling below the radar, for the most part, but the Centenario provides a chance to impress the big clubs. Paraguay's attack, despite the presence of Santa Cruz and Co., hasn't been particularly consistent. Lezcano could, if he can keep this pace going, be a game-changer for Paraguay, and if he's hot in June, the Paraguayans could be the tournament's surprise package.
Manager spotlight
Ramon Diaz was a first-class striker in his playing days for River Plate and several Italian clubs and is remembered for Argentina's goal in the second-stage loss to Brazil at the 1982 World Cup. That capped his national team career -- word was a feud with Diego Maradona cost him a spot on the 1986 and 1990 rosters, although Maradona in his autobiography claims he told Carlos Bilardo to include Diaz in both groups -- but he enjoyed productive stints with Napoli, Avellino, Fiorentina, Inter Milan and Monaco before returning to River Plate in the early '90s and finishing his playing days in Japan.
Diaz took charge of River Plate right after retiring, guiding the Buenos Aires giant to six league titles and one Copa Libertadores crown in three stints as manager. He also coached Oxford United in England, San Lorenzo (winning another league title) and Independiente in Argentina, and Mexico's Club America before signing on with Paraguay in December 2014.
He's a motivational coach with some odd methods: He promised his team pickup trucks for progressing at last year's Copa Libertadores. Can he top that if Paraguay makes another deep run?
Success looks like...
Paraguay isn't anywhere near the class of South America's elite these days, but it’s been expert at grinding out results. Summon more of that, and getting out of what appears to be the most competitive of the first-round groups -- an achievement that likely would mean the U.S. doesn't get through -- is well within reach.
That's what will be expected, especially after the past two Copa America showings, but the aim is third successive trip to the final four. That's doable -- Paraguay’s certainly not intimidated by the Brazils (penalty-kick wins in the 2011 and 2015 quarterfinals) and Argentinas (draws in two of the last five competitive meetings) of the world -- but advancing deep this this tournament would still be something of a stunner.
Failure looks like...
Did anybody expect it to tank so badly on the road to Brazil? That's the one massive failure on Paraguay’s recent résumé, and the team can't match that disappointment unless it’s conceding five and six goals a game.
Group A might be this tournament's “death” group, and if rankings mean anything -- debatable, for sure -- Paraguay ought to finish last. That wouldn't go over so well at home, and third place isn't a whole lot better.
To avoid this, Paraguay needs its youngsters -- Lezcano and Gonzalez, especially -- to take a big step forward, and a little magic from Santa Cruz or Valdez would go a long way, too.
This is a team that has been shut out 14 times in 39 competitive internationals since the start of the 2010 World Cup, and scoring in bunches doesn't promise more: Paraguay’s won just four of 10 games in which they scored multiple goals in that span.
