ParaguayParaguay - National football team
The Paraguay national football team is the national team of Paraguay and is controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. The Paraguay national football team has reached the second round of the World Cup on three occasions (in 1986, 1998 and 2002) but has never advanced beyond that stage. Paraguay's only major tournament victories have come in the Copa América, in which they triumphed in 1953 and 1979. Paraguay also won a silver medal in the football tournament at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, being defeated 1-0 by Argentina in the final[1]. This second place finish is Paraguay's top finish in any world-level competition.
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Since the 1998 World Cup qualifiers Paraguay has been established between the top 3 teams of CONMEBOL. South Africa 2010 is Paraguay's fourth consecutive trip to the World Cups, having been in France 1998, Korea/Japan 2002, Germay 2006 and now South Africa 2010. Soon after the introduction of football in Paraguay by Williams Paats, the Liga Paraguaya de Futbol (today Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol) was created in 1906. The first national football team was organized in 1910 when an invitation by the Argentine club Hércules of Corrientes was received to play a friendly match. Members of that first national team where F. Melián, G. Almeida, A. Rodríguez, M. Barrios, P. Samaniego, J. Morín, Z. Gadea, D. Andreani, C. Mena Porta, B. Villamayor, M. Rojas and E. Erico. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.[2]
Because of the increasing number of invitations to play matches and international tournaments, the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol decided to officially create the national team and select the striped red and white jerseys that until this date remain as the official colours (taken from the Paraguayan flag). In late 1919 Paraguay accepted the invitation to play the 1921 Copa America and in order to prepare for that occasion a number of friendly matches were played between 1919 and the start of the tournament in 1921. The first of those friendly matches was a 5-1 loss against Argentina, and it marked the first international game by the Paraguayan national football team. When the 1921 Copa America finally arrived, Paraguay surprised everybody by beating then three-time South American champions Uruguay by 2-1, being this the first match in an official competition for the Paraguayan football team. Paraguay eventually finished fourth in the tournament and became a regular participant of the tournament for the next editions.
In 1930 Paraguay participated in the first World Cup, organized by Uruguay. In the first round, Paraguay debuted and lost to the United States (0-3), to then defeat Belgium (1-0) with a goal by Luis Vargas Peña. Only one team was to advance from the group stage, and the U.S. left Paraguay behind..
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New ZealandNew Zealand - National football team
The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is the national association football team of New Zealand and is governed by New Zealand Football (NZF). The team plays in an all-white strip, hence its nickname.
The All Whites played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and on 14 November 2009 qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Because of the lack of a high-quality domestic league, most top New Zealand footballers play in the leagues of Europe, in the United States, or in the Australasian A-League.
New Zealand formerly battled Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).
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This is no longer the case as Australia now plays in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), leaving New Zealand as the only seeded team in the OFC. New Zealand has won the OFC Nations Cup four times - in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. Despite its large player numbers, football in New Zealand struggles to compete with other sports such as rugby union, rugby league and cricket, financially and for media exposure. The performance of the national team is further hindered by a relatively young semi-professional domestic league, the New Zealand Football Championship having been established in 2004. New Zealand has one professional team, Wellington Phoenix, which competes in the Australian A-League.
Since the 1990s, U.S. college soccer has played a significant role in the development of New Zealand players. This influence began when former Scotland international Bobby Clark returned to the U.S. after his 1994–96 stint as All Whites head coach to take the head coaching job at Stanford University (he now holds the same position at Notre Dame). Clark began recruiting in New Zealand, and current All Whites Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott played for him at Stanford. The trend that Clark started has continued to the present; more than two dozen New Zealanders are now playing for NCAA Division I men's programs in the U.S.[1] A common next step in these players' career paths is a stint in Major League Soccer; ESPNsoccernet journalist Brent Latham speculated in a March 2010 story that the All Whites' 2010 FIFA World Cup squad could have more MLS players than the U.S. squad.[1][2] However, Latham's speculation did not prove true, as only one MLS player made the New Zealand squad for the World Cup.
The best known current players are Blackburn Rovers defender Nelsen, former Roda JC defender Ivan Vicelich, Gold Coast United striker Shane Smeltz, Middlesbrough striker Chris Killen and Plymouth Argyle striker Rory Fallon. Several young players have shown promise in breaking through into the senior side, including Barnet FC midfielder Chris James, Newcastle Jets midfielder Jeremy Brockie, Shrewsbury Town striker Kris Bright and West Bromwich Albion striker Chris Wood..
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