INGLEWOOD, California, June 11 : Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said on Thursday his players had already achieved something special by ending the country’s 16-year World Cup absence, but added that they are here to compete rather than simply celebrate their return to the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paraguay face co-hosts the United States in their opening Group D match on Friday, marking the South Americans’ first World Cup appearance since 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In my view they have already won,” Alfaro said of his players at a pre-match news conference on the eve of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“After 16 years they qualified when it seemed impossible, when there was no hope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Argentine added that the team had restored the connection with the fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They’ve recovered Paraguay’s DNA.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While acknowledging the emotion surrounding Paraguay’s return, Alfaro stressed that his squad’s ambitions extend beyond merely taking part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We are not here just to be part of the World Cup,” he said. “We’re here to compete.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alfaro expected the opening test to be difficult, with the United States playing on home soil under coach Mauricio Pochettino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Of course it is complex to face one of the hosts,” Alfaro said, pointing to the quality of their opponents’ European-based players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paraguay would need to show concentration and discipline, he added, especially against a U.S. side who were dangerous from set pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paraguay also received encouraging signs regarding the fitness of Strasbourg winger Julio Enciso, who is recovering from an injury suffered shortly before the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Julio is doing very well,” Alfaro said, adding that he had followed the required steps in his recovery and would continue to be assessed before a decision is made on his availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alfaro said the squad, and the country, wanted Enciso to be ready, and suggested he would start if fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As anticipation builds ahead of Paraguay’s long-awaited return to the World Cup, Alfaro said he had urged his players to stay calm as they counted down the final hours before kick-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We waited 16 years,” he said. “We can wait one more day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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INGLEWOOD, California, June 11 : Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said on Thursday his players had already achieved something special by ending the country’s 16-year World Cup absence, but added that they are here to compete rather than simply celebrate their return to the tournament. Paraguay face co-hosts the United States in their opening Group D […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-416002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":416003,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416002\/revisions\/416003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}