[QODLink]
WORLD CUP 2010
Paraguay
Libertad striker Rodolfo Gamarra surprise inclusion in final squad for South Africa.
Last Modified: 08 Jun 2010 07:47 GMT
Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz will be Paraguay's main goal threat [GALLO/GETTY]

The Albirojja reached the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Argentina last September to cap their best-ever qualifying campaign – an event that sparked a national holiday in Asuncion.

Top-scorer Salvador Cabanas will miss the finals as he recovers from a gunshot wound to the head, and his teammates will no doubt be playing with him in mind as they look to go beyond the last 16 for the first time.

Star striker Roque Santa Cruz has two mediocre seasons behind him for Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City but Argentine coach Gerardo Martino has praised his players' collective discipline and says he is confident he can "go down in history" for his achievements with the team.

Goalkeepers:

Justo Villar (Real Valladolid), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno).

Group F fixtures

Monday June 14

 Italy v Paraguay 

Tuesday June 15

 New Zealand v Slovakia 

Sunday June 20

 Slovakia v Paraguay 
 Italy v New Zealand 

Thursday June 24

 Slovakia v Italy 
 Paraguay v New Zealand

Defenders:

Denis Caniza (Leon), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Dario Veron (Pumas UNAM), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo), Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic)

Midfielders:

Edgar Barreto (Atalanta), Cristian Riveros (Sunderland), Jonathan Santana (VfL Wolfsburg), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Enrique Vera (LDU Quito), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors).

Forwards:

Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City), Nelson Haedo Valdez, Lucas Barrios (both Borussia Dortmund), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad).
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
Topics in this article
People
Country
City
Featured on Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera's exclusive publishing of a key Guantanamo prison military document lays bare the brutality of force-feeding.
Former military official says poverty and anger in indigenous communities mean conditions for an "insurgency" are ripe.
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Featured
China Rising
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Al-Nakba
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Syria: The War Within
Two years since the start of the uprising, rebels and Assad's forces remain locked in conflict.
China angles for Arctic power
China aims to expand its influence in the resource rich area.
Crisis in Bangladesh
Extensive coverage of war crimes tribunals and controversial calls for blasphemy laws.
join our mailing list