South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup - All About Paraguay!

By : Alejandro Guevara Onofre

The Road to South Africa 2010!

From an Olympic perspective, Paraguay is a unique nation in the Western Hemisphere. Why? This landlocked nation is famous for its competitive athletes. Against all odds, by 1987, the Paraguayan tennis team made world headlines when they, led by Victor Manuel Pecci, defeated the United States 3-2. That day was very special for the South American country. But Paraguay has had other greatest performances in sport. Without the economic power of many Olympic nations, the FIFA 2010 World Cup will be the fourth appearance in the World Cup for Paraguay, a record in the world's developing countries. Since then this Spanish-speaking nation has been home to many top soccer players, including Casimiro Avalos, Jose Luis Chilavert, Roberto Cabanas and Julio Cesar Romero.

Country Profile: Paraguay

Paraguay is a Spanish-speaking nation located in the heart of South America. This landlocked country has an area of 157,000 square miles (406,752 km) and surrounded by Bolivia to the north, by Brazil to the west, by Argentina to the east. With more than six million people, Paraguay - about the size of California-- is among the most sparsely populated countries in the Western Hemisphere. At the same time, it is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the region. Meanwhile, Asuncion is home to the country's capital city. By the early 1810s, Paraguay became one of the first independent nations of the world. Historically, the Latin American republic was a dictatorship until 1989 when the nation's ruler Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown by Andres Rodriguez.

World Cup Tradition

The FIFA recognized Paraguay as a member in 1925. In 1922 and 1929, Paraguay was runner up in the South American Tournaments in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). In the next year, by mid-1930, Paraguay was one of 13 countries to make its World Cup debut in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital. In this event, it finished eight, outpacing Romania, Belgium and Mexico. In the latter part of the 20th century, the men's football team competed at the IV World Cup in Brazil. Meanwhile, it became South American champion in 1953. Between June 3 and June 29, 1958, Paraguay ranked 12th in the global tournament in Stockholm (Sweden).

On July 27, 1965 in Luque (Paraguay), was born Jose Luis Chilavert, one of Latin America's top athletes in the 1990s. During that period of time, he had a great career as goalkeeper. He played for Velez Sarfield (Argentina), Zaragoza (Spain) and other foreign teams. Under the leadership of Chilavert, one of the nation's three most popular idols, along with Pecci and Augusto Roa Bastos (novelist), Velez Sarfield won many international titles, including the Copa Libertadores (1994), the Copa Interamericana (1994), the Intercontinental Cup (1994), and the Supercopa Sudamericana (1996). In 1995, 1997 and 1998, he was named as the world's best goalkeeper by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

By the late 1970s, the men's soccer team placed second in the Youth South American Tournament. Subsequently, it ranked among the top seven teams in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Tokyo, Japan. This team was the nucleus of the country's team for the Mexico 1986 FIFA World Cup.

At the FIFA 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the men's football squad qualified for the semi-finals and was one of the thirteen best teams on Earth. In the years that followed, by 1992, the men's soccer team qualified for the Barcelona Summer Olympics, where it finished eighth, ahead of America, Kuwait, Colombia, among other teams. In Spain, Paraguay was one of two teams that made its Olympic debut.

By the end of the 20th century, the men's football team took part in the global tournament and placed 14th. During that event in France, they beat Nigeria (3-1) and tied with Bulgaria (0-0) and Spain (0-0). In the next round, the hosts beat Paraguay 1-0.

By the early 2000s, the country, with a team that had been together over the years, picked up the ticket for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. During the course of the decade, it finished a surprise second at the 28th Summer Olympics in Greece, the nation's first Olympic medal. Subsequently, the South American nation qualified for the 2006 global tournament in Germany and placed 18th, ahead of Poland and Croatia. In 2009, the men's football squad, won the right to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: Freelance writer. Alejandro is author of a host of articles/essays about over 220 countries and dependencies (and American States as well), from ecology, history, tourism and national heroes to Olympic sports, foreign relations, and wildlife. In addition, he has published some books on women's rights, among them "History of the Women in America" and "Famous Americans."

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World Cup 2010 - Analysis and Predictions

By : Jimmy Tong

Historical Fact

Based on historical data, no team from Europe has ever lifted the World Cup outside Europe. A country from the host continent eventually won every single World Cup except for Brazil in 1958 when they won in Sweden. When the first World Cup on Asian soil was held in 2002 in Korea and Japan, the eventual winner was not an Asian country but Brazil again. Asian countries were not ready to win yet, although S. Korea came close. These are the historical facts of the World Cup for the past 100 plus years. Eight years on, do you think an African country is actually ready to lift the World Cup on their home soil? Foolhardy are the ones who bet against history.

Our approach will be to bet on a South American country to lift the World Cup again outside of Europe, with some money put into an African country to do a first in history.

Analysis of Teams

Brazil has been winning too often and their odds are pretty low at 4.5, but still good. Some money must go to them.

Argentina is the dark horse. Not many people give them a chance because they have a certain eccentric Diego Maradona at their helm. They do have wonderfully talented players at their disposal and I just have this feeling that they will make all their critics eat their words by bonding together despite all their unwanted attention on Diego. Reminds me a bit of Italy at the last World Cup. The Italians had lots of trouble with team spirit, someone dying and so on. But they managed to use that as a bonding tool to get the team together to play effective football to win the World Cup.

England, as usual is over rated. Fabio Capello will only get them so far. History will not be kind to this talented lot of players. Gerard, Rooney, Lampard, Terry will have a good World Cup, but only up to the Semis again. I have a strange feeling that they will go out on penalties again. Guess who will miss the crucial spot kick?

My, famed Portugal will go out in round one this time. Too bad they are in the group of Death. They are too dependent on Ronaldo. I am afraid Carlos is not a Scolari this time round. Anyway, apart from Ronaldo, the other players are all mediocre.

I like the African teams. This World Cup might just be their one. Over the past World Cups they have shown the world that they are talented, skillful and capable of upsetting the best. Remember Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions. Now with more high profile players in Europe and more importantly, with better technical coaches hired, and on their home soil, this could be the World Cup that new grounds are broken. The first African Nation to lift the World Cup on home soil? It will not be South Africa, not with Piennar type of players. The real caliber players are with Ivory Coast and even Ghana. Players like Drogba, Toure, Kalou, Essien are great players with great experience. They might just take the next great leap for African players.

As for Asian teams, I think they have had their go. It is neither their time nor place to bring in another great performance this time round. Teams underestimated their abilities in 2002. They won't make the same mistakes again.

Spain. Sigh.... They have the lowest odds. Though talented, they will come up short against the South Americans. Winning the European Championship is one thing. Winning the World Cup against Brazil and Argentina is another. Furthermore, they are not in Europe. Good luck to them.

Germany and Italy? Their era is over. Look at their leagues at the moment. Hard to imagine them coming out with winners away from Europe.

Group Winners and Runners-Up Proposal (1 denotes group winner, 2 denotes runners-up)
(Refer to http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/standings/index.html for Groupings)

A1 - France
A2 - Uruguay
B1 - Argentina
B2 - Nigeria
C1 - England
C2 - Algeria
D1 - Germany
D2 - Ghana
E1 - Holland
E2 - Cameroon
F1 - Italy
F2 - Paraguay
G1 - Brazil
G2 - Ivory Coast
H1 - Spain
H2 - Chile

Playoffs Proposal (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/kostage.html)

Second Round Fixtures Quarter-Finals Semi-Finals Final/3rd-4th

France v Nigeria Nigeria Ghana
England v Ghana Ghana

Holland v Paraguay Holland Brazil
Brazil v Chile Brazil

Germany v Algeria Germany Argentina
Argentina v Uruguay Argentina

Italy v Cameroon Italy Ivory Coast
Spain v Ivory Coast Ivory Coast

Jimmy Tong has been a Physical Educator for 13 Years in Singapore, with degree in sports science and physical education from Loughborough University in UK. He has extensive coaching experience in soccer, floorball and rugby teams in Singapore Schools.He is currently a sports development officer in Singapore schools as well as an active contributor of sports training articles to improve sports performance in athletes. For more information on achieving Peak Performance in Sports, visit the following site at http://esportspeaks.blogspot.com.

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World Cup 2010 - The Major Sporting Event of the Year

By : Ivaylo Yordanov

This is going to take place in South Africa in the summer of 2010. The participating teams are determined by the qualifying matches that has been held on each continent between the time periods of august 2007 to November 2009. As the time left for the world cup is decreasing day by day so the preparations for the world cup are in the final stages. We will mention here some of the news related to this event.

South Africa grabbed the luck to be the seat for World Cup 2010. The ceremony will be launched on June/July 2010. These sports and events takes place all around ten stadiums and cities comprising the Cape Town. The stadiums have been sketched and the building has been started. In fact, the tickets are for sale on the various venues put up on the website.

The qualifications are now over and the teams which will compete on the finals are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and United States of America.

There are many reasons why this football championship will tend to be success this time in the country. South African seashores put forward dirt free waters, fair shores and security nets. SA is reputed for its marvelous wines. A trip to South Africa is not whole devoid of chipping in the grandiose mountain collections.

Of course the unspoiled nature of South Africa is also of huge interest for those who will visit the World Football Championship in 2010 and will be able to combine the sporting entertainment with some great trips across this unique continent.

You will never have to worry about food in in the host country; the tastes are appealing to any people from whichever part of the world. Surprising games and expedition screening with trips are obtainable on ease. There are lots more that you can enjoy even after the matches days. Make it now or never!!!

STADIUM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE EVENT: The inspection tour that consists of about 50 operational experts from FIFA and members of the local organizing committee visited South Africa in the month of October to inspect the progress of the stadiums made for the world cup. This committee visited all the five stadiums that are being built for the world cup. This team is very satisfied with the progress. The stadiums are now complete. In most of the stadiums the work left includes laying of grass, getting the seats in and stadium precincts.

BUYING TICKETS FOR WORLD CUP 2010: it has been discovered that there are about 100 false websites that are selling tickets of world cup. These websites have duped thousands of football lovers as they are thinking that they have got the tickets when actually they have not. There are only a dozen of genuine websites that are selling tickets for the world cup, starting with FIFA.com and there are only a few companies that are authorized to sell packages to South Africa. So be careful before purchasing the tickets. We can recommend you the site below specialized and created exclusively for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Ivaylo Yordanov is the author and can provide you with additional information about trips to South Africa and the World Cup 2010. Also, more information is available at World Cup 2010 Tickets and South Africa 2010 Tickets.

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