FOXBOROUGH: At the World Cup in 1998, Paraguay were clinging on for a 0-0 draw in a last-16 meeting with hosts France in the hope of some penalty shootout magic from goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert but a 114th-minute golden goal by Laurent Blanc dashed that strategy.
Twenty-eight years later, Paraguay pulled off what the Chilavert generation could not – the South American underdogs held Germany to a 1-1 draw after extra time and then eliminated the four-times world champions on penalties.
In one of the biggest upsets ever seen at the World Cup, Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved the efforts of Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade before Jonathan Tah fired over the bar, paving the way for Jose Canale to blast home the decisive spot kick.
It was the first time Germany had lost a penalty shootout at the World Cup.
But Gill has some history of his own as a penalty stopper. He saved two for his club side San Lorenzo in a shootout against River Plate in an Apertura match in Argentina in May, although San Lorenzo eventually lost.
Last year in a quarter-final against Argentinos Juniors he pulled off the decisive save in another shootout.
“It’s difficult to describe in words,” Gill said when he left the pitch as some of his teammates sobbed with joy. “It was a very challenging game. We were under attack from all sides but we resisted.”
Asked about his two saves in the shootout, he said: “We had to analyse every player, every detail.”
ALFARO SHOWS FAITH IN HIS DEFENDERS
As well as Gill’s heroics, Paraguay’s unlikely victory was founded on coach Gustavo Alfaro’s unshakeable faith in his defenders.
Criticised for his tactics in the group phase, when Paraguay lost their opening game 4-1 to co-hosts the United States and scored only two goals over the three games, Alfaro doubled down on his bet on his backline against Germany.
“Today was a match in which we had to be Paraguay more than ever,” captain Gustavo Gomez said. “I think deep down Germany knew that if they wanted to beat us, they would have to sweat blood, because we were going to make defeat very, very costly for them.”
That spirit had been on show in a 1-0 group phase win over Turkey when Paraguay were reduced to 10 men just before halftime and their opponents had 32 attempts on goal.
On Monday, Germany had 75% possession and 21 shots against Paraguay’s seven. But behind the numbers, Paraguay’s performance represented a defensive masterclass.
The South Americans anticipated almost every move by Germany and limited them to very few moments of real danger, even without stalwart centre half Omar Alderete who was injured.
Almost completely against the run of play, Julio Enciso – Paraguay’s most creative player so far – opened the scoring in the 42nd minute when he headed in a cross by Matias Galarza.
Havertz drew Germany level nine minutes into the second half with a glanced header from a Florian Wirtz cross.
The Europeans continued to struggle to pierce Paraguay’s defence. They thought they had won the game in extra time when Tah headed in a corner but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check for a foul on Gill.
The win will be particularly sweet for 63-year-old coach Alfaro, whose critics in the media have included Chilavert himself who demanded a more attacking style.
Now Alfaro will need to prepare his resolute defence for a likely Round of 16 encounter with France – led by the free-scoring Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele – who are tipped to beat Sweden in their first knockout match on Tuesday.
By contrast, Alfaro’s opposite number on Monday, Julian Nagelsmann, will probably struggle to keep his job after Germany suffered their third consecutive humiliating World Cup exit.
Nagelsmann complained about the decision to rule out Tah’s effort in extra time and said he wanted to carry on in the job. — Reuters
