Paraguay dreaming up win over Germany after recent victories over Brazil and Argentina

[p][b]"We have been up against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a], ‌we have been up against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brazil/I9l9aqLq/"]Brazil[/a], teams with the same stature or perhaps even ‌more stature than [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/ptQide1O/"]Germany[/a]," Alfaro told reporters on Sunday.[/b][/p][p][b]"They're all ‌candidates for world champions. We faced them and it was tough for ‌us but we pulled it off," he said.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paraguay/YaNlqp6j/"]Paraguay[/a] returned to ‌the World Cup for the first time since 2010 - when they were narrowly defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] - after a qualifying campaign that ‌started badly but was transformed by the ⁠appointment of Alfaro in August 2024.[/p][p]Alfaro ‌led the team to wins over both their neighbouring South American footballing ​giants.[/p][p]A terrible start to Paraguay's tournament, when they lost 4-1 to co-hosts the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/fuitL4CF/"]United States[/a], was followed by a ​1-0 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/turkey/QeijuHo5/"]Turkey[/a], in a game when they were reduced to 10 men and their opponents had 33 attempts on goal, ⁠and a 0-0 draw ​with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a].[/p][p]That was enough for Paraguay to squeeze into the first knockout round.[/p][image alt="Germany - Paraguay win probability" id="cfddd7ae-cb26-4e3d-be1e-f72c6cb5b12e" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="1eff3011-8b08-46e6-ab3c-b39c7d1b9571" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Against Germany, the South Americans will be without midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gomez-diego/KrSC9Fhb/"]Diego Gomez[/a], who is suspended after receiving two yellow cards in the group phase.[/p][p]Media ‌reports said centre half [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alderete-omar/fLceoUtl/"]Omar Alderete[/a] was an injury concern.[/p][p]But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/almiron-miguel/AwqEUHxT/"]Miguel Almiron[/a], another of the team's more creative players, will be back, having served a one-game ban following his red card for covering his mouth in a confrontation during the win over Turkey.[/p][p]Alfaro, who has previously managed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ecuador/8tbm8Tri/"]Ecuador[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/costa-rica/C4ePE2kq/"]Costa Rica[/a] as well as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/boca-juniors/hMrWAFH0/"]Boca Juniors[/a] in his homeland Argentina, said he had compiled a big dossier in preparation for the Germany game but had been limited ‌to one training session for Monday's game near Boston, at the ​home of the New England Patriots NFL team.[/p][p]Paraguay captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gustavo-gomez/fH0yeuUu/"]Gustavo ‌Gomez[/a], speaking alongside Alfaro, also spoke of the importance of playing top South American sides as part of the process of getting to the World Cup.[/p][p][b]"Everything we went through and achieved in qualifying - coming up against super-strong opponents like Brazil, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uruguay/xMk44orG/"]Uruguay[/a], ⁠Argentina, Ecuador, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a] - we've been ⁠through a lot of pressure ‌situations, and we have overcome it," Gomez said.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/germany-ptQide1O/paraguay-YaNlqp6j/?mid=2y2UKhp1"]Follow the game with Flashscore.[/a][/p]