PARAGUAY TRAINING CAMP IN BUOYANT MOOD

 

 

WORLD CUP ITALIA2015 DAY TWO:

 

 

The mood in the Afragola training camp that Paraguay chose to be their base, is buoyant as the players took part in some light training this morning. The unfolding of the 3-2 win over Group C favourites Belgium was as exciting as anything Paraguay have achieved in recent years. The way the players responded after going behind with just 9 minutes to play was astonishing, especially for a team with an average age of 30.

 

 

Tonight the players make the same 12km trip to the same stadium that seen the incredible last 10 minutes of that win over Belgium and a similar result would be welcome. Ivan Piris is available after suspension and it will be interesting to see if Kinnear changes a winning team to accommodate him. The opponents tonight are Ivory Coast, who impressed with a 4-1 win over Georgia in their opening game. This will be another tough match and the main worry for Paraguay will be whether the main players can hold up for another 90 minutes of intense football. The Africans can boast players such as Drogba, Gervinho and young highly rated talent, Serge Aurier. It will be a hard one to call but the bookies are rarely wrong and they are going 19/20 Ivory Coast, 3/1 Paraguay and 5/2 the draw.

 

We managed to grab Paraguay boss Gordon Gino Kinnear and this is what he had to say:

 

'Hahaha we won last night and we are over the moon about it. They European aristocats thought they had the game won but they didn't realise that Barreto and Cardozo were still lacing up their boots for the first 82 minutes and they showed that they may be aging but they can score goals.

 

Cardozo in light training

 

Tonight we play the tourist resort of Ivory Coast. Is that Australia or something? We have been warned they have good players but I hear their main player Diddy Dogma is older than all our players ages put together. I have a secret weapon to take care of him.

So they beat an American city last night. That's no big deal as I heard that city can only play well on rainy nights. We are confident we can pull off a good result tonight. We will stick to our normal pre match build up and the players will all eat chicken before the game. They know what they have to do......to eat the chicken that is. I have to get back to the players now.'

 

The secret weapon to mark Drogba tonight

 

So there you have it. All is calm in the Paraguay camp but will they have the energy to stop Ivory Coast from making it two wins from two. Whatever happens, it is sure to be a cracker of a game.

 

The players know what they have to do to eat chicken pre match