18:30 GMT, July 3, 2010
Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa
A case for the defence
Paraguay have found goals increasingly hard to come by at this World Cup and as a consequence became the first team to face the trauma of a penalty shootout following a drab 0-0 draw with Japan in the second round. Gerardo Martino's side began their campaign with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Italy and cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Slovakia before the goals dried up against New Zealand in their final group game and then again against the Blue Samurai.
However, at the back La Albirroja have been breached just once and if they are to stand a chance in their quarter-final with the Spanish they will mainly have to rely on that solid defence again. The good news is that Del Bosque's Spain have struggled against defensive sides. Ottmar Hitzfeld's well organised Switzerland pulled off a shock 1-0 win against the European champions in their opening game and Carlos Queiroz's Portugal held firm for 63 minutes before eventually losing their second-round match 1-0.
Del Bosque will once again be looking for David Villa to lead the charge. Barcelona's new €40 million striker has already scored four crucial World Cup goals to get Spain out of some sticky situations and the manager's biggest problem is who to play alongside the Golden Boot contender.
Out-of-sorts striker Fernando Torres, who has been publicly backed by Del Bosque, has played in all four games and started the last three, but has been hauled off around the 60-minute mark in every game after failing to make an impact. Against Portugal, Torres was replaced with Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente and his introduction had an immediate impact, with Villa scoring the winner just minutes later. It would be no surprise if Llorente started ahead of Torres, who attempted just two shots on target in four games, in an otherwise unchanged Spanish team.
Having reached the quarter-final stage for the first time in their history, it's already mission accomplished for Paraguay. In many ways all the pressure is on Spain, who are joint-favourites to win the tournament.
Paraguay player to watch: Cristian Riveros - Sunderland's new signing is the hub around which Paraguay's midfield operates. He offers a mix of sharp tackling, box-to-box running and an excellent pass-and-move game. La Albirroja have used him on the left of a three-man midfield to control and win the ball back and he will have to be at the peak of his powers against Spain's much vaunted midfield duo of Xavi and Andres Inieista. So far he has met every challenge.
Spain player to watch: Xavi - The best playmaker in world football has already created more chances, played more successful passes and had more touches of the ball than any other Spanish player since 1966 so it would be incredibly difficult to overstate his importance to the team. His passing range is unmatched and his awareness of what is going on around him gives him the vision to pick out a killer pass. He created eight goalscoring chances in his last match against Portugal alone and no player has created more in a single game at this World Cup.
Key battle: David Villa v Paulo Da Silva - Barcelona striker Villa finished Euro 2008 as the tournament's top scorer and he is well on the way to winning the Golden Boot in South Africa after scoring four goals in four games. With regular strike partner Fernando Torres unable to hit a cow's arse with a banjo at the moment there is even more pressure on Villa to maintain his goalscoring touch and few would back against him doing so. Hoping to stop one of Europe's most fearsome strikers is Paraguay skipper Da Silva, who will have to call on all his years of experience as a versatile defender to do so. The 30-year-old's main aim will be to stop Villa cutting in from the left flank and he may well have to call on defensive partner Antolin Alcaraz to help him out.
Trivia: No team that is still in the competition has conceded as many fouls and so few shots on goal as Paraguay. But despite their physical approach the South Americans have given away nearly no free kicks in the danger area.
Stats: David Villa has scored five of Spain's last six goals at the World Cup. He assisted the other.
Odds: Paraguay (7.50), Spain (1.50) the draw (4.00) are all on offer at Bet365. But a 0-0 draw after 90 minutes will get you 9.00.
Prediction: These two sides have met on three previous occasions, with two of them ending in goalless draws and Spain winning the other. It is likely to be a low-scoring affair with Del Bosque's team just edging it.
Saturday 3rd July 2010
Venue: Ellis Park
Kick-off: 19:30
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 Martino knows his team have the ability to go even further.
"If I had to consider a tournament of 20 matches against Spain, then I think Paraguay would have fewer possibilities than Spain," he said.
"But you see in this kind of tournament, it's not just who plays better, but who has the heart, who has the stamina, the wish, who has the fighting spirit and it can come down to one scoring opportunity.
"I think in football you can expect any kind of result when you have to play 90 minutes, so I have no idea who will be in the next round."
Paraguay have enjoyed a memorable competition so far after an opening draw with Italy was followed by a victory over Slovakia and draws against New Zealand and Japan - the latter ending in a penalty shoot-out win.
But Martino is confident they still have more to offer.
He continued: "We have not had many good goal-scoring chances. We have had a few good moments, up to half-time against Slovakia we played well, we had our moments against Italy and then in the qualifying round we've had much better matches.
"We have not played too defensive matches either. We have had the same amount of ball possession as our rivals.
"There is a history yes, but we have to fight against this history and we just hope that tomorrow we can play better to have better possibilities."
Asked if he had any special plans to try and stem the attacking threat of the Spain, he said: "We could spend the whole night talking about how to neutralise the Spanish players, because you will ask me how to neutralise (David) Villa, then (Andres) Iniesta, then (Fernando) Torres and what have you.
"So we have prepared our match plan and we hopes it works out on the pitch."
Cesc Fabregas has no doubt his Spain team-mate Fernando Torres will soon be over his goal drought and is expecting the striker to play a key role against Paraguay.
The Liverpool forward has endured a poor campaign so far, failing to hit the back of the net for the European champions in their opening four games.
It came after an injury-hit domestic season for his English club, which him saw head to South Africa in the wake of a knee problem.
He has so far failed to live up to expectations and Fabregas said: "This boy is accustomed to this kind of situation.
"He's accustomed to all these situations because he's been under pressure ever since he was a little boy.
"He is very much at ease and I think tomorrow he will have a possibility to showcase his talents to see whether he can take this team to the highest possible ranks."
Arsenal midfielder Fabregas has hardly featured for Vicente del Bosque's side so far, making two brief second-half appearances in two of their games and completely missing out on the other two.
Asked how he felt the limited game-time, he continued: "The important thing is motivating yourself and believing that you will make it to the pitch, that you will be important during the match and you are really strong for the team.
"Because, perhaps you play, perhaps you don't play. You must be able to feel it that you will be able to do something in the match.
"If you are not being fielded, you must celebrate your friends and enjoy it."
Fabregas was also expecting a tough match against the South Americans.
"We're used to playing teams like this," he said. "Many of these players play in Europe we know them, so we're quite at ease.
"As we know, it is a very competitive team. They love to fight and they're going to fight to the end."
Brazil were knocked out of the competition by Holland and Fabregas insisted there would be no such repeat by the Spaniards.
The two-time European Championship winners, who are looking to reach the last four for the first time since 1950, had been major underachievers on the world stage until they claimed their second continental crown in 2008.
He added: "I think Spain has had sufficient lessons taught in the past.
"We know that in football anything is possible and if somebody has learnt something, it is Brazil."
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