Paraguay Eliminates Japan On Penalty Kicks At World Cup
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PRETORIA, South Africa — Paraguay advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time with a 5-3 victory over Japan in penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw Tuesday.
Oscar Cardozo clinched the win with a low left-footed drive past goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. The only miss in the shootout was by Japan defender Yuichi Komano on the third try when he hit the crossbar. That made the difference.
The Paraguayans are the fourth South American team into the final eight; only Chile fell short, and it lost to Brazil in the second round.
When Cardozo easily beat Kawashima to end the exhausting match and nerve-racking shootout, his teammates stormed onto the field in celebration of the nation's biggest World Cup win. Cardozo pulled at his jersey, goalkeeper Justo Villar jumped on him, and they were quickly swarmed on by the whole team.
"This is tough. Both teams made a great effort. God was on our side," said coach Gerardo Martino, who was in tears after the game. "Now we hope to recover and to continue making history."
Japanese players watched the final shot on their knees with their arms around each other. When it went into the net, they let go and sagged. Keiji Tamada fell onto his back, while Japanese players and fans wept.
Paraguay will play the winner of Tuesday night's Spain-Portugal match in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
"We are very happy as we never got this far," Cardozo said. "Japan has great players, but we controlled the ball, which is what we wanted, and they didn't score".
It was the first match of this World Cup that went to penalty kicks, and for Paraguay it was no problem. Edgar Barreto, Lucas Barrios, Cristian Riveros, Nelson Valdez and Cardozo didn't come close to missing.
Neither did Japan's Yasuhito Endo, Makoto Hasebe and Keisuke Honda. But Komano's right-footed blast ricocheted off the crossbar as Komano put both hands to his head, realizing it could be a decisive miss.
It was.
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AP/Huffington Post FRANK GRIFFITHS First Posted: 06/29/10 01:42 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 05:55 PM ET