Three key qualities: Paraguay boss explains difference to Germany

Three key qualities: Paraguay boss explains difference to Germany Paraguay surprisingly knocked Germany out of the World Cup. Afterwards, Gustavo Alfaro, the South Americans’ coach, explained what had made the difference. Germany had, with all due respect, players on the pitch who have everything, who were trained at the best elite academies in Europe. Paraguay, he said, has players who “play barefoot on the soil of our homeland, whose parents make sacrifices to get them to training, and whose money often doesn’t last until the end of the month. All of that so their children can fulfill their dreams.” The players naturally recognize that willingness to sacrifice. They know it is not something to be taken for granted to be part of a tournament like this, and they are motivated accordingly. “That is the ideal scenario,” Alfaro said. For him, it is not really about the comforts. He would wish those for himself and his players in their development and during tournaments as well: “That obviously doesn’t mean we won because of that and the others lost because of their elite academies. Hopefully, we too will reach that highest level someday. There is a reason why they have won the title four times.” But it helps the players to know where they come from. The sacrifices their parents made. “I do not deny my roots,” Alfaro made clear, stressing that these are deeply fundamental character traits. “I absolutely do not deny my roots. They make us who we are. That is what defines this team.” At one point, he said, he had three or four players on the pitch who could not go on, but kept going anyway, “because they have heart.” Paraguay had to achieve the desired result with the means available to them. “With a set piece, a counterattack, a long ball. I would like to have more options, but so far we are not ready for that yet.” The worst thing, he said, is when his team cannot find itself either offensively or defensively. That had been the case in the 4-1 loss to the USA. Against Germany, it had been clear that it would come down to defense, so that was what they focused on. “You cannot choose what you have to do. You have to do what the game demands. If that means I have to field one more defender, then I field one more defender.” Then he became a little more poetic: “We have to dance to the music we are played. Sometimes it is a cumbia, sometimes a tango, sometimes a rumba, today it was a polka.” Pragmatism, heart, willingness to sacrifice. Those are the qualities with which Paraguay reached the round of 16. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.