Hannah Cawsey says Roque Santa Cruz must find some goals if Paraguay are to make it past Spain.
Rocky period for Roque
So we've made it through to the quarter-finals with victory over Japan and will take on Vicente Del Bosque's Spain next. Again it was another exciting and gripping performance which led to a comfortable win for Paraguay...
Oh no wait, I mean: a drab, dreary, defensive performance that was a bit like pulling teeth - while on that topic we also made the quarter finals by the skin of our teeth in a penalty shoot-out.
Before writing this blog I viewed the two seconds of highlights that were scraped together of the game. They only really featured Yuichi Komano's spot kick miss and the no-nonsense penalty from Cardozo, which to be quite frank was a huge relief because like most I couldn't wait for the game to be over.
I currently write this blog in the company of my five year old Holly, three year old Thomas and 4 month old Alexander, my extra cute cousins who were all put through the torture of watching the Japan game and will have to go through it all again on Saturday. Luckily for me Holly is very keen on the team in red and white winning which will make babysitting a lot easier on Saturday.
The Spain game will be taking Paraguay's quarter final virginity and I'm hoping they will be stirred into some exciting football.
I expect Paraguay will be shipping back in Caceres who missed the last game due to suspension probably at the expense of Ortigoza. Spain are sticking with Torres who has failed to inspire in the games so far. I hope he doesn't pick Saturday's game to find his form as we all know how much damage he can do and how many problems he causes defenders.
Melt
I keep mentioning Roque Santa Cruz's name and it's really not just because he makes women melt - but his form is also becoming crucial. Surely the focus on Saturday will be the two out-of-form strikers and wether they can find their shooting boots. For Roque it has been a mere 799 minutes since he has scored a World Cup goal. So no pressure guys!
I want to talk about players on yellow cards for this game as it will affect Gerardo Martino's selection for the semi-finals - should they get that far. If the game turns nasty Paraguay could stand to lose Santa-Cruz, Vera and Riveros who are all on yellows and have been key in Paraguay's success so far.
It may sound crazy talking about the semi-finals, yet the World Cup never fails to throw out shock results and who am I to doubt Paraguay's South American determination and passion to make history. I will mention again that they beat both Argentina and Brazil to qualify.
So here's to hoping we'll see a far more entertaining game from Paraguay this weekend. My Dad always maintains that England play better against better teams. Even though this was disproved against Germany, I hope that we see some vibrant, free flowing football that results in a win for Paraguay!
I'll end by telling you that Steven Gerrard called me the other day. He said that England were really disappointed and hoped to return to the UK to a hero's welcome - So I told him to get a flight to Glasgow airport.
Do you agree with Hannah? Will Paraguay make the semi-finals? Filll in the feedback form below and let us know...
