The World Cup 2010: ha’way Paraguay!

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So Salut! Sunderland‘s World Cup squad has been announced.

And it includes vindication of our resolve to support Paraguay in South Africa.

Despite his surprising lack of opportunities, so far, for Sunderland – especially given how well he generally played when actually on the pitch – Paula da Silva is in the preliminary squad named by the manager Gerardo Martino.

Add to this the fact that Paraguay play in red and white stripes and the choice makes itself.

In any game, therefore, in which England are not playing or would not be disadvantaged by a Paraguay victory, we want Martino’s men to succeed. Simple as that: we are not allowing our clear club-before-country priorities to push patriotic duty out of the window. England for the cup, but – excluding only the name of the trophy winners – let Paraguay get as far as they can, too.

If da Silva loses his place when the provisional squad is reduced to 23 players at the end of May, Salut! Sunderland will reflect on its allegiance. Would the stripes be enough to leave us rooting for Paraguay in Group 7, which sees them competing against Italy, Slovakia and New Zealand? Time will tell.

This is the preliminary squad:

Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Valladolid), Aldo Bobadilla (Deportivo Independiente), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno)

Defenders: Claudio Morel Rodriguez (Boca Juniors), Denis Caniza (Leon), Paulo da Silva (Sunderland), Dario Veron (Pumas), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro), Julio Manzur (Tigres), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo de Almagro), Marcos Caceres (Racing), Antolin Alcaraz (FC Bruges)

Midfielders: Edgar Barreto (Atalanta), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul), Osvaldo Martinez (Monterrey), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Enrique Vera (Liga Deportiva Universitaria), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg), Sergio Aquino (Libertad), Eduardo Ledesma (Lanus), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors), Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell’s Old Boys)

Forwards: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Borussia Dortmund), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Edgar Benitez (Toluca), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad), Jorge Achucarro (Newell’s Old Boys)

Ha’way the Paraguayan Lads!


* Photo credit: AP Photo/Reinaldo D’ Santiago, if i read the slightly confusing Football Wallpapers site information correctly. If anyone knows differently or objects even to this properly credited usage, please tell me

7 thoughts on “The World Cup 2010: ha’way Paraguay!”

  1. Thanks!. It is really nice to read that you will be supporting Paraguay!

    Salvador Cabañas is getting better… day by day… Hopefully one day, in the near future, we will see him back in the soccer field!

    The Fleni, an argentinian Clinic where Salvador Cabañas is making his rehabilitation released the first official images of the recovery process.

    Here is the link:

    http://www.ultimahora.com/notas/320085-La-rehabilitacion-de-Salvador

    Greetings from Paraguay

  2. I thought you didn’t approve of second teams (see article on Nathalie – well done btw)! Joking aside, they’ll be my second team, too, especially if we sign that lad Cristian Riveros.

  3. I wonder how the lad will recover specifically in terms of playing football. SB was very impressed with SC prior to his unfortunate event. I wonder if we’ll ever see him play in England. I suppose when you get shot in the head, the importance of the World Cup diminishes considerably, but it’s a shame that Salvador is going to miss it. He’s looked the part when I’ve seen him play for Paraguay. He was (hopefully still will be) a very good player.

  4. Where else to turn to than the People’s Daily., Jeremy? It was the most recent piece I could find:

    Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo visited soccer player Salvador Cabanas who is recovering from a gun wound.

    Lugo said that Cabanas is “very fine” according to a press statement published on Wednesday by the General Direction of Presidential Information.

    “The fans of the Paraguayan soccer player Cabanas, welcomed Lugo and talked with him for some 10 minutes. Cabanas told Lugo that the next match he plays will be in Paraguay,” the statement said.

    Cabanas was shot in his head on Jan. 25 in Mexico City, while he was in a night club and now recovers in a hospital in the suburb of Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina.

    Lugo visited Cabanas before returning to Paraguay, after attending the Summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), hosted in Argentina.

    The 29-year-old striker underwent surgery in which doctors failed to remove the bullet from his skull. Then Cabanas was transferred from a hospital in Mexico City to the Institute FLENI de Escobar, in Argentina, on March 21.

    Source:Xinhua

  5. This is a tremendous idea.

    “H’way Paraguway?” It really should rhyme I think!

    Is there any news on how Salvador Cabanas is fairing since he was shot?

    I’m all for supporting the lads in red and white.

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