Cabanas comes up trumps for Paraguay

The Albirroja were finally rewarded for their patience when they tasted success over the North Americans at the fifth time of asking. Two draws and two defeats, including a comprehensive 3-0 reverse at the 1930 FIFA World Cup Uruguay™, were all the Paraguayans had to show for their efforts against the Stars and Stripes over the years. Until Monday evening in Barinas, that is.

Martino's charges went into the game in good heart after opening their Group C account with a 5-0 spanking of Colombia, while the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup winners were hoping to make amends for their defeat to Argentina. Yet despite producing some attractive football, Bob Bradley's inexperienced side had no answer to Paraguay's deadly efficiency in the penalty box.

Surprisingly though, it was not Bayern Munich star Roque Santa Cruz who shot Martino's men into the last eight. Goalscoring duties instead fell to Edgar Barreto, Oscar Cardozo and Salvador Cabanas, with Ricardo Clark grabbing the only goal for the tournament invitees, who saw their hopes of advancing emphatically cut short.

The only sour note of Paraguay's evening came ten minutes into the second half when keeper Justo Villar was replaced by Aldo Bobadilla after suffering a repeat of the injury he picked up against England at Germany 2006.

At the other end of the pitch, Cabanas gave a further illustration of his prowess in and around the box when he came off the bench to score his third goal in two games. Clearly determined to make the most of whatever opportunities come his way, the America striker replaced Cardozo 13 minutes from the end and still found time to flight an immaculate free kick past Kasey Keller. The unstoppable Cabanas is now among the tournament's joint-top scorers, and with the supersub in such prime form Paraguay are starting to believe they can repeat their sole Copa triumphs of 1953 and 1979

source: (FIFA.com) Tuesday 3 July 2007