Paraguay Draws Against Norway; Ecuador & Australia Next Up

May 24th, 2006 | by: WC Bob | Comments Off

Paraguay and Norway battled to a 2-2 draw in a friendly played in Oslo on Wednesday. Veteran defender Carlos Gamarra and forward Nelson Valdez picked up the goals for Paraguay in the first of its three tune ups before the World Cup. Frode Johnsen got the brace for the hosts who will be watching the World Cup from their living rooms like most of us. Paraguay played without a number of key players.

Said Paraguay coach Anibal Ruiz after the match: “In South America we are not used to this strong physical football, the type that Sweden and England will play.”

The more I see of Paraguay the more I think they could be a difficult team for their Group B opponents. Their style of play and pace could give their European opponents a few headaches if they are able to withstand their opponent’s physical style.

Later on tonight, Ecuador faces Colombia in a game being played in the United States. Our Ecuador blogger Trent will be at the game and I’m sure he’ll be firing off 300 posts when it is over, assuming he gets over seeing porn star Ron Jeremy at the airport.

Even later on, Australia will play host to Greece in front of 95,000 fans in Melbourne, including our Aussie blogger Matt. Keep an eye out for him if you tune into the game.

Results this week:

South Korea 1 Senegal 1
Croatia 4 Austria 1
Morocco 1 United States 0

Upcoming Fixtures
This week

All games before World Cup