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- Villa sends Spain through
- David Villa enhanced his reputation as the World Cup's outstanding striker with a late winner to give a below-par Spain an historic 1-0 victory over Paraguay. The 28-year-old struck his fifth goal of the finals to send the perennial underachievers to their first-ever World Cup semi-finals. It was tough on Paraguay wh View more »
- Paraguayans party in glare of unfamiliar spotlight
The streets of Asunción will be a sea of red and white as Paraguay sample the big time against Spain
The enthusiasm is inescapable. Everywhere you go people wear official Paraguayan striped red and white T-shirts. Bank clerks, TV presenters, cashiers at supermarkets, children, teachers and government officials, View more »- Head-to-Head: Paraguay v Spain
Gerardo Martino's side will be considered by many to have overachieved at this tournament, and they may need to curb their attacking instincts against the joint-favourites
Spain's David Villa has been one of the hottest strikers on show at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Form
Paraguay v Italy 1-1, v Slovakia 2- View more »- Paraguay v Spain
Paraguay's Gerardo Martino and Spain's Vicente del Bosque
Quarter finals
Paraguay v SpainEllis Park Stadium, JohannesburgKick-off: Fri July 2, 7.30pm BST
Spain are ready to make history. Almost unbelievably, they have never won a World Cup quarter-final before, only having reached the last four in 1950 when the tou View more »- Martino hoping for historic win
- Paraguay boss Gerardo Martino is hoping his side can make the most of their one-off chance against Spain in the World Cup quarter-finals. The La Albirroja coach, whose team have never beaten the European champions, has already made history by taking the South Americans to the last eight for the first time. And Martin View more »
- Caceres could return for Paraguay
Paraguay could restore Victor Caceres to their starting line-up for their quarter-final clash against Spain on Saturday after he missed their match with Japan through suspension.
If Caceres does make the starting XI, Nestor Ortigoza is expected to be the player to make way, while Aureliano Torres may feature after View more »- Japan start search for new coach
The Japan Football Association have begun their search for a new national team coach after Takeshi Okada reiterated his intention to step down.
The 53-year-old guided the Blue Samurai to their best-ever World Cup performance on foreign soil as they reached the last 16 in South Africa, where they lost 5-3 on penalt View more »- Paraguay boss vows to attack Spain in quarter-final
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino has leapt to the defence of his goal-shy attack ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final with Spain in Johannesburg.
Spanish test: Euro big guns are up next for Martino
Martino has steered Paraguay to their first ever last-eight appearance at football's biggest tourname View more »- Martino backs strikers
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino has leapt to the defence of his goal-shy attack ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final with Spain in Johannesburg.
The South American side secured their first ever last eight appearance at football's biggest tournament but the strike trio of Manchester City's Roque Santa Cruz an View more »- World Cup 2010: South America boosted by travel, hard work … and luck
South American teams have players based in Europe and a tough qualifying competition but an easy draw never hurts
Shortly after Paraguay had put Japan – and everyone else at Loftus Versfeld – out of their misery last night, their manager, Gerardo Martino, warned: "South America is peaking. We have so man View more »
