PHILADELPHIA — Paraguay manager Gustavo Alfaro suggested the extreme heat predicted for Saturday’s round of 16 match against heavily favored France could help his side, but only so much.
High temperatures around 100 Fahrenheit with significant humidity are forecast for the Mid-Atlantic city, with the highs coming an hour or two before the 5 p.m. ET scheduled kickoff.
Paraguay play their home qualifiers in the capital of Asuncion, where average summer highs rise into the 90s.
“We are used to the heat. Yes, we are,” Alfaro said on Friday via an interpreter. “However, you suffer the heat. What knockout match do you have in Paraguay at five in the afternoon? None. Maybe it happened once and there was a defeat. You don’t play at that time.”
He also noted it wouldn’t be the same as Mexico’s advantage playing at high altitude, conditions that Mexico have trained in for weeks.
“Even though you might have this memory, physical memory of understanding what happens with high altitude (or) what happens with heat, it’s different from what happens when you’re there,” he said.
“But the heat will affect both teams. And high altitude affects both teams, yes. But those that have a slight advantage are the ones that were able to prepare in that situation.”
Paraguay pulled off their round of 32 shock over Germany without center back Omar Alderete, who picked up a knee injury in the Albirroja’s group finale against Australia.
Alfaro said Alderete has not yet returned to full team training, but did not rule him out.
“Omar worked well yesterday, but he didn’t do anything on the field,” Alfaro said. “He did tough physical work. He responded well to the work. We’ll see today at our training to see how he responds. … ”
“Let’s see if he can start or if he can come in later. He wants to be there. He’s told me, ‘Coach, I don’t want to miss this game.'”
Even though Monday’s triumph over Germany was celebrated with a national holiday, veteran Paraguay defender Junior Alonso insisted there would be no letdown in preparations to face Les Bleus.
“We have worked so hard, we have made so many sacrifices at the professional level, at the personal level, because our dream was to have Paraguay in a World Cup,” he said.
“So whether we have lost or not against Germany, it wouldn’t have meant a defeat to us because we did everything humanly possible to obtain that result and we were able to achieve that. And in this case, in the match against France, it won’t be different because we have the same mindset.
“We know what we are capable of. And the only thing that we could promise to the Paraguayan people is that we are going to give it all. Hopefully, God will be on our side and we will get the result that we want. But if that is not the case, we would have peace of mind anyway because we got prepared for this every day after getting so tired playing with Germany.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
