Part 22 of 32: The Paraguayan Interview
For part 22 of the series, Paraguayan lawyer Daniel Brunetti (who is blogging at Paraguay World Cup Blog) joins us. Currently, he is finishing his masters degree at Georgetown University in Washington DC. But what Daniel really is, is a football addict fan. His priorities goes first the national team of Paraguay and second his club Olimpia. For more on Daniel, check out his profile at World Cup Blog.
I thank Daniel for agreeing to the interview.
Tell us a bit about the Paraguay football history and the football culture which exists.
In Paraguay you don’t feel the football, you breathe it. The football is the number one sport of the nation. In each neighbourhood there are at least one football field, and even if you don’t have a near field, every place could transform it in a huge stadium for the people. We have two big teams down there, Olimpia (Libertadores Cup Champions, 1979, 1990, 2001) and Cerro Porteno. They are like the Boca-River of Argentina. But when it comes to cheer for the national team, all the people put on the national shirts.
Tell us a bit about the Road to the World Cup – the qualification, and the emotions the fans went through at the time.
There are several differences between this team than the teams that played in the last two World Cups. First, our great Captain Jose Luis Chilavert had retired from football, and there were some generational changes, so in this team we have a lot of young people.
The qualification started very hard, because we lose our first match, and the people had this feeling that maybe this time we would not qualify to the WC. The other thing is that the fans don’t really like the coach because of his defensive strategy. But after some great victories, and primarily after winning Argentina for the first time in our history, we felt so close to Germany, then the people were so happy with the new players, than everyone believes that in this WC, because we have a more offensive team, we can go further than the last one.
I need to highlight that the excellent presentation that Paraguay made in the Olympics (silver medal) help to the moral of the team and fans to gain a possitive actitude through the qualification.
What style of football does the national team play?
Paraguay is really known by its strong defensive qualities and it’s good “head-hitters”. Our team today has good players in the defense and midfield, our goalkeeper is very good, and finally we got in Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez two good strickers that can cause damages to any team.
What do you think your country’s prospects are at the World Cup?
I believe that the Group B is really a hard group, mainly because we have to play against England (a favorite to win the WC championship) and Sweden, who always have good players. And there is Trinidad and Tobago that will play without any pressure as the underdog, But if you want to win a championship, you need to win every body, so I believe that if we get pass to the next round, we probably will made through the quarter finals.
Who will be the most important player for your country?
Roque Santa Cruz without any doubt will be the star player because he is very known in Germany (He plays for Bayern Munich) so he will get all the attention, but I believe that Nelson Haedo has the potential to become a great player during this WC.
Which player in your country’s side would you most like to get rid of?
The thing here is that we have in the team three players that are the olders one: Carlos Gamarra, Roberto Acuna and Jose Cardozo. They played in the two last cups and they are very experienced, but Acuna and Cardozo aren’t playing today in their teams, so we have this problem in balancing experience with young new players that could not be included in the list if they go to Germany. I believe that Cardozo is the one that need to step aside of the team, because today everybody still likes him and respect him because all the effort that he brought to the team, but if he goes to Germany out of shape, the people could blame him if he made a poor presentation.
Who are the players to watch from the other countries?
There are so many, this will be the WC of Ronaldinho I think, but I will watch very closely every game of France because this will be the last time that we will see Zinadine playing football.
What will be your excuse in the event of failure?
The perfect excuse for the coach will be that our group was very hard. That this were teams that made it to the finals or something like that.
Have you got the right manager?
Definitely no, the people is very unhappy with the coach, because he still tries to play like if we don’t have any strickers. His game is very deffensive, so the people don’t want to see their team only defending like we did in France. This team have more potential than that one, so we will like somebody that will dare to risk more.
What advice would you give him?
Let the players do they jobs, and don’t tell them to play defensively.
Which team do you most want to beat?
Without any doubt, England, but still, as a South American, beating Argentina or Brazil is like winning the tournament.
Which opposition player will get the most stick?
Definitely Beckham.
Where will you watch the matches?
Because I am not at home right now, (I am living in USA not in Paraguay right now) I believe that I will go to some Paraguayans to any sport bar here (if there will be any that shows the WC) or we will gather in some place, but always I like to watch with friends so you feel more like as in the stadium.
How keenly will the World Cup be followed in your country?
The whole country will just stop whatever they do to watch the games. The matchs are like a sacred ritual that every one follows. Normally the people gather in public places where they have huge TVs to watch the match. And when is time to celebrate, everybody goes to the downtown of the city (to the Palma street and National Pantheon) that is the traditionally place where the people celebrate.
Who will be the player of the tournament?
Ronaldinho without any doubt. He is the next big player like Maradona and Pele.
Who will win the Golden Boot?
Maybe Ronaldinho, but the beutiful of this sport is that you never know that until the WC begins.
Which team will disappoint the most?
Maybe Argentina, because they have so many good players, and they always are the favorites but as in Korea/Japan 2002 you need to win the games inside the fields not outside.
Who will be the surprise team of the tournament?
Holland I think, they are a very good team, but they don’t have enough luck in every WC since the Johan Cruyff era, maybe this could be their chance to make history.
Finally, Who will win the World Cup?
My deepest hope is that Paraguay wins, because it is my team, but I believe that Brazil will win again, first because they won’t have any big team against them until the finals and they have so many players that they could put two Brazilian teams in the WC and both will have the chances to make it to the finals.
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I hope you enjoyed part 22. Follow up questions for Daniel can be e-mailed to me. Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to be interviewed or know a friend who would like/could be interviewed. Specific questions for specific countries which might pop in your mind in due course may also be sent.
For the rest of the interviews, check out the World Cup interview series page.
Tags: FIFA World Cup 2006, Football Interview Series, Paraguay.
