Ahead of their KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2022 match against the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) at Sapporo Dome (Hokkaido) on Thursday 2 June, the Paraguay National Team arrived in Japan on two separate flights on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 May. The players conditioned themselves by working out at their hotels, before making way to Sapporo on Tuesday 31, where they will start their team trainings ahead of the match.

Coach and Player's Comments

Guillermo BARROS SCHELOTTO, Head Coach of Paraguay National Team
This is my fifth visit to Japan, and I am always impressed by the hospitality of the Japanese people. This friendly match against Japan will provide an opportunity for us to explore the style of play to adopt in anticipation of the World Cup following this year's FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. We also want to see how well we can compete against a team like Japan, who have many players playing in Europe and will be playing in this year's World Cup in Qatar. This will be a great opportunity for us to develop ourselves, so we hope to make the most of this experience. Of course, we are going to try to win. We hope to showcase a spectacular match for the Japanese fans.

Antony SILVA (Puebla/Mexico)
I have been to Japan several times and have the impression that it is truly a wonderful country. It is unfortunate that the curfew restrictions prevent us from exploring the city this time, but given the current global situation, we feel we have no choice. Currently, the Paraguay National Team is in the process of a rebuild, welcoming new, young, and promising players to the national level. This friendly match is against Japan, who have qualified for this year's World Cup, so I think it will be very beneficial for us in terms of knowing where we are at. We intend to showcase a spectacular football game, so I hope the Japanese fans will enjoy it.

Paraguay National Team Squad

Head Coach

Guillermo BARROS SCHELOTTO (Argentina)

Squad

GK
 1  Antony SILVA (Puebla/Mexico)
12 Juan ESPINOLA (Godoy Cruz/Argentina)
22 Santiago ROJAS (Nacional)

DF
 2  Alan BENITEZ (Cerro Porteno)
 3  Omar ALDERETE (Valencia CF/Spain)
 4  Santiago ARZAMENDIA (Cadiz CF/Spain)
14 David MARTINEZ (River Plate/Argentina)
15 Blas RIVEROS (Brondby IF/Denmark)
 5  Luis ZARATE (Olimpia)

MF
 8  Richard ORTIZ (Olimpia)
21 Oscar ROMERO (Boca Juniors/Argentina)
10 Miguel ALMIRON (Newcastle Unitedド/England)
16 Angel CARDOZO LUCENA (Cerro Porteno)
20 Richard SANCHEZ (Club America/Mexico)
18 Andres CUBAS (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada)
17 Jorge MOREL (Estudiantes de La Plata/Argentina)

FW
 9  Gabriel AVALOS (Argentinos Juniors/Argentina)
11 Angel ROMERO (Cruz Azul/Mexico)
 7  Derlis GONZALEZ (Olimpia)
19 Jesus MEDINA (CSKA Moscow/Russia)
23 Josue COLMAN (Guarani)

Date: Thu. 2 June 2022, 19:00
Fixture: SAMURAI BLUE vs Paraguay National Team
Venue: Sapporo Dome (Hokkaido)

Match Information

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