Copa America: The Summer Sojourn Starts Here

Paraguay vs Qatar

Admit it SBOBET fans – this one doesn’t catch your eye that much does it?

After all, it is a battle between the sides ranked 36^th and 55^th in the world.

Yet look more closely at the Copa America news and you will find there is more to this than meets the eye.

Talking Points

Paraguay and Qatar lock horns in their first Group B game in the Copa America in the famous Maracana stadium in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.

One team is really out of form, the other are the champions of Asia and young and fearless.

It’s Paraguay’s form which has been indifferent in recent times with just one win in their last six. That’s something they will need to improve on if La Albirroja are to progress to the knockout stages. In the tournament in 2016 they only gained a point.

Paraguay are even bigger dark horses this time around following a run of just eight wins in 33 matches since reaching the semi-finals in 2015.

Much of their hopes will be heaped on the shoulders of Newcastle man Miguel Almiron who was one of the big signings of what was a dull January transfer window earlier this year.

Miguel Almiron and his Paraguay teammates in training

He has hardly set the Premier League alight to date anyway.

The club-record fee of £21million has seen his performances warmly received, although he is yet to register an assist or score a goal in 10 league appearances.

Internationally, though, he is the heartbeat of the side with many of the opportunities they create coming through his vision and creativity.

They also have Libertad forward Oscar Cardozo who has 11 goals for his national team, a tally he will be hoping to extend.

This will be the first competitive game for the new Paraguay manager ‎Eduardo Berizzo, who was formerly with Sevilla.

Qatar have a solid defensive record with the central defensive pairing of Tarek Salman and Bassam Al Rawi crucial for the nation which will host the 2022 World Cup.

Qatar have also shown they can score against some of the top teams in world football with victory over Switzerland and two score draws with Iceland in recent years.

Qatar triumphed earlier this year going from zero points at the last Asian Cup to their first continental title in record-breaking style, beating Japan 3-1.

Forward Almoez Ali’s bicycle kick helped bring home the trophy and broke Ali Daei’s 23-year-old mark for goals at a single Asian Cup.

Ali, an Aspire Academy graduate, produced nine goals in Qatar’s seven matches.

Head coach Felix Sanchez gas has already said this tournament will be a “significant step in our journey towards the World Cup”.

Yet with all 23 of their players plying their trade in the Qatari league, this will be the first competitive game against a side from another continent for most of them.

With Argentina and Colombia the other sides in this group, it’s a big ask for either these two nations to emerge.

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History

This is the first competitive meeting between these nations.

They have met in three friendlies to date over the last 30 plus years with one win apiece and one draw.

Their inaugural clash was in 1986 when Paraguay were three months away from competing in the World Cup.

The friendly in Doha ended 1-1 with Qatar leading through a Badar Belal goal before Rogelio Delgado netted a late equaliser.

When they met at the same venue a few days later, Paraguay stepped it up a notch and ran out 3-0 winners, thanks to goals from Buenaventura Ferreira, Adriano Samaniego and Cesar Zabala.

It was 2009 until they next met, again in a friendly, when Qatar recorded a 2-0 success, courtesy of a Fabio Cesar double.

Qatar are one of two countries invited to make up the required 12 teams for the South American continental championship, the other being Japan, who have named a young side to gain experience ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics.