Paraguay vs. Spain

The last quarterfinals of the World Cup will see mighty Spain take on the South American flair of Paraguay. These two teams are no strangers to each other in the big tournaments but never have they met in the latter stages of the World Cup. Spain are heavily favorites to beat Paraguay at Ellis Park, Johannesburg on Saturday 3rd of June. This game will be kicking off at 19:30 BST.

Paraguay have nothing to lose at this stage. They weren’t even predicted to get this far, never mind being the fourth team from South America to be represented in the quarterfinals. This is an achievement of itself and any further progression will be more of a miracle than anything else. Paraguay was close in going out of the World Cup as they won the first penalty shoot-out of the 2010 World Cup in the last 16. It ended with a 5-3 win on penalty and many of the Paraguayan penalty takers were taken very confidently and that also took toll on their body after going through extra time. The game play itself was scrappy and edgy but Paraguay did have a brief spell where they dominated. Apart from that, Paraguay will need to find a better tactic in order to shock the European Champions and Switzerland showed the way to glory. Coach Gerardo Martino had to do without midfielder Victor Caceres against Japan as he served a one match ban. His return to the starting lineup will boost the Paraguayan midfield because his presence gives confidence to his team with or without the ball. Martino’s side will hopefully be rested in order to fight another battle for survival.

It’s now or never, the team has it all, the depth, the superstars, the defense, the midfield, the strikers and the goalie. This is a team, like Brazil, on paper a world beater but they have yet to show the world they are able to take on the big guns of football. After sending Portugal out of the World Cup with a 1-0 win, Spain still have not be soundly tested yet. They have weakness but Portugal did not do enough to expose and against Paraguay could prove to be a lesser worry. Another game goes by and another strike from David Villa keeping their World Cup campaign going, his striking partner, Fernando Torres is still dogged by his knee injury. Xabi Alonso was doubtful for the Portugal but he played with pain killers and his reward was Spain’s first yellow card of the tournament. His presence is vital for Spain, vital enough to keep Fabregas on the bench. Coach Del Bosque will be happy with his team’s performance as they grow in confidence game by game. They defend well and attack well, they showed it in the stern test against Portugal, withholding Cristano Ronaldo from playing his game, is a big achievement. Paraguay stands in their way and Bosque won’t let anything slip by.

These two teams met in the World Cup 2002 during the group stages and Spain came out victorious with a 3-1 win. A repeat of this result would not be too far fetch and Spain will be happy to take any win to reach their second appearance in a World Cup semifinal. Spain have one of the lesser routes to get into the semifinals and this could spell out their concentration would be more on the semifinal than the quarterfinals. Deadly Paraguay will take whatever they get and work with it. They have shown that they can win when required and hold big teams to a stalemate if needed.

Verdict
Spain to ease their way to the semifinals with the help of David Villa.