Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino selected a squad of mostly local
players Thursday to face World Cup host South Africa in a friendly
on March 31 in Asuncion.
The squad features only three players with clubs in Europe:
Sunderland defender Paulo Da Silva, Wolfsburg midfielder Jonathan
Santana and Villarreal midfielder Hernan Perez.
Paraguay is playing in its fourth straight World Cup and was
drawn in Group F with defending champion Italy, New Zealand and
Slovakia.
Among the players missing who are likely to play in South
Africa are Oscar Cardozo of Benfica, Roque Santa Cruz of Manchester
City and Nelson Haedo Valdez of Borussia Dortmund. Missing South
America-based players include Claudio Morel of Boca Juniors and
Julio Cesar Caceres of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro.
Striker Salvador Cabanas, who is staging a miraculous
recovery after being shot in the head on Jan. 25 in a Mexico City
bar, is undergoing therapy in rehabilitation clinic in Buenos Aires
but is not expected to play in South Africa.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Victor Centurion (Tacuary), Joel Silva
(Guarani).
Defenders: Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Paulo Da Silva
(Sunderland, England), Cesar Benitez (Cerro Porteno), Julio Manzur
(Olimpia), Pedro Benitez (Atletico Mineiro, Brazil), Aureliano
Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Blas Caceres (Olimpia).
Midfielders: Marcos Riveros (Nacional), Osvaldo Hobecker
(Rubio Nu), Jorge Moreira (Libertad), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg,
Germany), Rodrigo Rojas (River Plate, Argentina), Hernan Perez
(Villarreal, Spain), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors,
Argentina), Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell's, Argentina).
Forwards: Nestor Ayala (Tigre, Argentina), Guillermo Beltran
(Nacional), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad).
