Argentine Ramon Diaz was named as coach of Paraguay’s football national team on December 18, 2014. Diaz is the most successful coach in the history of Argentine giants River Plate. (Getty)
Copa America 2015 begins on June 11, 2015 in Chile and Paraguay are in a position to pull off some major upsets. They will open with a match against World Cup runner-up Argentina on June 13, and are also in the same group as eighth in FIFA rankings Uruguay.
Paraguay’s Copa America schedule is as follows:
June 13, 2015 : Argentina at Estadio La Portada in La Serena, Chile. ( The teams drew 2-2 )
June 16, 2015 : Jamaica at Estadio Regional de Antofagasta in Antofagasta, Chile. ( Paraguay won 1-0 )
June 20, 2015 : Uruguay at Estadio La Portada in La Serena, Chile. ( The teams drew 1-1 )
Paraguay had their first knockout stage game on June 27, 2015, upsetting Brazil 1-1 (4-3 on penalties) at Estadio Municipal de Concepción in Concepción. Paraguay finished second in Group B, while Brazil won Group C.
Paraguay will play the third-ranked team in the world, Argentina, in the semifinals of the Copa America on June 30, 2015. Paraguay is 15-30-58 against Argentina in their international history.
In 2011, Paraguay was in the “Group of Death” with Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador and tied each team. They earned a berth in the knockout round with Brazil and tied them 0-0 in regular time before beating the Brazilians 2-0 on penalty kicks. They earned a championship berth in a similar way; tying a team they faced in the group stage, Venezuela, 0-0 in regular time before beating them 5-3 on penalty kicks. Paraguay then faced Uruguay in the championship match and was overcome 3-0 by the Uruguyans.
On May 13, 2015, Paraguay named their 30-man lineup for the Copa America:
Goalkeepers : Justo Villar (Colo Colo); Antony Silva (DIM); Joel Silva (Deportes Tolima); Alfredo Aguilar (Guarani)
Defenders : Paulo Da Silva (Toluca); Pablo Aguilar (America); Marcos Caceres (Newell’s); Miguel Samudio (America); Ivan Piris (Udinese); Jorge Moreira (Libertad); Fabian Balbuena (Libertad); Bruno Valdez (Cerro Porteno); Saul Salcedo (Olimpia)
Midfielders : Víctor Cáceres (Flamengo); Osvaldo Martínez (America); Nestor Ortigoza (San Lorenzo); Richard Ortíz (Toluca); Celso Ortíz (AZ Alkmaar); Osmar Molinas (Libertad); Oscar Romero (Racing, Argentina); Eduardo Aranda (Olimpia); Jonathan Fabbro (Cerro Porteno)
Forwards : Roque Santa Cruz (Cruz Azul); Lucas Barrios (Montpellier); Nelson Haedo Valdez (Eintracht Frankfurt); Oscar Cardozo (Trabzonspor); Edgar Benítez (Toluca); Hernan Perez (Valladolid); Derlis Gonzalez (FC Basel); Raul Bobadilla (Augsburg)
