🗣️ Paraguay was knocked out of the 2026 World Cup in the round of 16 after a 1-0 loss to France from a Mbappé penalty confirmed by VAR. But what Gustavo Alfaro said at the press conference carried more weight than the result.
The 63-year-old Argentine coach did not talk about tactics. He talked about life stories: “We faced players who are fighting for the Ballon d’Or, ours never knew their fathers”, he said bluntly. And then he told Orlando Gill’s story, his goalkeeper’s: he went months without receiving a salary and had to sell his own clothes to pay for his daughter’s medical treatment. He also mentioned Matías Galarza Fonda, a player who until recently was doubted as to whether he could hold his own at River Plate, and whom Alfaro now says “can play for any team in the world”.⚽
Paraguay was returning to a World Cup after 16 years away, and along the way had eliminated none other than Germany, the four-time champion, on penalties. The president of the Paraguayan federation came out to publicly back Alfaro, although his continuity as head coach was left up in the air. Do you need to be a millionaire to compete for a Ballon d’Or, or is having survived everything enough to stand up to the world champion? 🇵🇾