Paraguay

Paraguay secured their place at Germany 2006, after finishing fourth in the South American group. Their consistency was very questionable with some big wins but some bad losses including their 4-1 defeat to Peru.

Paraguay World Cup profile continues below

In the past two World Cups, Paraguay have reached the second round where they have lost 1-0 both times - the first time to eventual winners France and then in 2002 to the eventual finalists Germany.

Paraguay have never got past the second round, but their manager, Anibal "Mano" Ruiz, remains confident. The Uruguayan, who has worked all over South America, took over in 2002.

Paraguay are ranked 30th in the world and were pushing for 2nd spot in Group B. They had good news just ahead of the World Cup when striker Roque Santa Cruz was confirmed fit to play.

However, narrow defeats to England and Sweden ensured that Paraguay failed to make the last 16. Nevertheless they won their third match - defeating Trinidad and Tobago 2-0.

Paraguay World Cup squad by shirt number: 1 Justo Villar 2 Jorge Nunez 3 Delio Toledo 4 Carlos Gamarra 5 Julio Cesar Caceres 6 Carlos Bonet 7 Salvador Cabanas 8 Edgar Barreto 9 Roque Santa Cruz 10 Roberto Acuna 11 Diego Gavilan 12 Derlis Gomez 13 Carlos Paredes 14 Paulo Da Silva 15 Julio Manzur 16 Cristian Riveros 17 Jose Montiel 18 Nelson Valdez 19 Julio Dos Santos 20 Dante Lopez 21 Denis Caniza 22 Aldo Bobadilla 23 Nelson Cuevas

Paraguay World Cup profile by Ben Rosenbaum