Paraguay want to keep momentum

Paraguay did tragic teammate Salvador Cabanas proud by holding defending champions Italy 1-1 in their World Cup opener with coach Gerardo Martini saying it illustrated their potential. Paraguay are dedicating all their World Cup games to Cabanas, the 2007 South American footballer of the year who was shot in the head in the toilet of a trendy Mexico City bar in January.

He survived, but is on a long road to recovery. Despite the setback, the South Americans came into the tournament in great shape having beaten Brazil and Argentina in qualifying, and after successfuly blunting Italy, they can no longer be considered minnows. Much of the credit is down to Argentinian coach Martino who has managed to negotiate a delicate transition phase for his team. He said he was very pleased to soak up the Italy pressure and take a point.

"We played this game equally against the current world champions," he said. "To play against such a rival with such skills is a very good sign for us. It gives is a lot of confidence going ahead in this tournament.

"There are some teams that allow you to make mistakes but with Italy you know that one mistake could be very costly. "We attach great importance to what we have done." Paraguay stunned the champions by taking the lead in the 39th minute when Antolin Alcaraz, who is bound for Wigan in the English Premier League, outjumped two defenders to head home a cross.

An error by goalkeeper Justo Villar handed Italy an equaliser, and Martino admitted there were areas of their game that needed work on ahead of their next clash with Slovakia before they face New Zealand. "We weren't terribly accurate when we played the ball. Italy didn't make it easy for us," he said.

"But we knew Italy was going to be like that. I think we also made life difficult for them. "I think our next matches will be completely different games. We need to improve on our possession and how we move the ball." Paraguay are dedicating all their World Cup games to Cabanas, the 2007 South American footballer of the year who was shot in the head in the toilet of a trendy Mexico City bar in January. He survived, but is on a long road to recovery.

* AFP