Paraguay scores biggest World Cup win

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This article was published 30/06/2010 (5940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PRETORIA, South Africa — The last thing Paraguay wanted was to wind up in a shootout with Japan. After all, the South Americans almost never practise penalty kicks — or have any success when they do.

Yet Paraguay took the most difficult route to its first World Cup quarter-finals Tuesday. After 120 exhausting minutes without scoring, the Paraguayans found their touch in penalty kicks, making all five to beat Japan.

Oscar Cardozo clinched the 5-3 shootout win after a 0-0 draw with a low left-footed drive past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. The only miss in the shootout was by Japan defender Yuichi Komano on the third try when he hit the crossbar. That made the difference.

"We practised penalty kicks once, so nobody could say we weren’t prepared," coach Gerardo Martino said. "But our executions weren’t too good.

"You can’t recreate the environment you’ll face in a real game, with 40,000 fans."

But the execution was perfect, climaxed by Cardozo’s winner.

"Character plays a big role," Martino said. "What can you say when a Cardozo asks to kick the fifth penalty and he does it the way he did it?"

The Paraguayans are the fourth South American team into the final eight; only Chile fell short, and it lost to Brazil in the second round.

When Cardozo easily beat Kawashima to end the exhausting match and nerve-racking shootout, his teammates stormed onto the field in celebration of the country’s biggest World Cup win. Cardozo pulled at his jersey, goalkeeper Justo Villar jumped on him, and they were quickly swarmed on by the whole team.

"This is tough. Both teams made a great effort. God was on our side," added Martino, who was in tears after the game. "Now we hope to recover and to continue making history."

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Japanese players watched the final shot on their knees with their arms around each other. When it went into the net, they let go and sagged. Keiji Tamada fell onto his back, while Japanese players and fans wept.

Paraguay will play Spain in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Spain beat Portugal 1-0 Tuesday night.

"We are very happy as we never got this far," Cardozo said. "Japan has great players, but we controlled the ball, which is what we wanted, and they didn’t score."

— The Associated Press