Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
A Paraguayan commentator has been stripped of his accreditation and the national team is still blowing up over a controversial red card that looms as a distraction in Friday’s clash with the Socceroos.
The World Cup pressure appears to have hit hard for the hot-headed Paraguayans, who are still furious at the suspension handed to their best player, former Newcastle United star Miguel Almiron.
Australia’s fate is still in their own hands for the crunch group-stage clash on Friday morning (AWST), but they will rely on results to progress to the round of 32 if they lose to the South American nation.
It puts all the heat on Paraguay, who must win to earn second place and secure automatic qualification. The loser faces a nervous wait to see if they can sneak through as one of the best third-placed teams.
However, their goal difference of minus two after their 4-1 hammering at the hands of the USA leaves them in a precarious position, while the momentum they picked up in the win over Turkey has been stalled by the loss of star midfielder Almiron.
Almiron, who plays in Major League Soccer for Atlanta United, became the first player to be sent off under FIFA’s new rules for covering his mouth during a confrontation with an opposition player and will now miss the Socceroos clash, prompting outrage from the La Albirroja.
“The fear I have is that football loses its essence,” coach Gustavo Alfaro said post-game. “Let’s not become slaves to the rulebook.”
“He was in a lot of pain because he felt that, for a player of his experience, those things can’t happen,” he said of Almiron.
“But it happened. That’s it. We’re here to support him, to carry him, to push him.”
It was the second whinge Alfaro has had this tournament, also complaining post-match about FIFA’s new hydration breaks.
While the Socceroos have been preparing for their do-or-die clash, Paraguay are still dealing with the fallout from Almiron’s indiscretion, with FIFA also stripping their commentator Jorge Chipi Vera of his World Cup credentials for his criticism of match officials.
Vera was furious on the mic, labelling the referees as “thieves” and accusing them of killing football before subsequently posing an apology on X formerly Twitter.
“During the broadcast of the match between Paraguay and Turkey, I had an outburst,” Vera said in his lengthy post.
“In the midst of my frustration over the expulsion of a player from my country, and feeling that my national team was being harmed, I used offensive and unacceptable expressions against the referee, FIFA, and its authorities.”
However, it has come as too little too late, with Vera banned from all World Cup grounds and cannot participate in any of his outlet’s World Cup coverage.
“Questioning a rule or disagreeing with a refereeing decision never justifies losing control the way I did,” he added.
“I failed you in something fundamental: maintaining the composure and respect that this profession requires.”
Almiron himself has not commented on the sending off, instead thanking his teammates for the win, as the team has gone to ground training behind closed doors since the incident.
Defender Omar Alderete is one of the few to break radio silence from the group, insisting his side has turned the page and that the pressure should be on Australia.
“We know how they play, and I think it will also be a difficult match for them,” he told reporters.
“We’ve already turned the page; we did what we had to do against Turkey to move on, and now I think we only have to think about Australia.
“It’s clear that it’s not easy for any team to advance to the next round, it’s complicated, it’s not easy; and we have to approach every match the same way.”
However, fellow defender Junior Alonso used his opportunity to take a shot at the standard of refereeing, particularly around the new rule on the time limit in restarting play.
“We can’t really comment too much because it was a rule that was already in place before the World Cup,” he said.
“We felt that against Turkey, the referee counted faster for us than for the Turks. All the new changes were discussed, and we weren’t aware of them; there were moments when he started counting even before I had touched the ball.”
Coach Alfaro has also raged against business interests for commercialising the World Cup experience, pointing to exorbitant ticket and transport prices but also taking aim at hydration breaks.
While Australia coach Tony Popovic reached out to other sporting codes, including AFL, in order to maximise the benefit of the new breaks which came to the fore in the warm-up games and the 2-0 win over Turkey, Alfaro said the game is being ruined.
“It’s a commercial break, not a hydration break,” he said. “The game is getting out of hand.”
“The essence of football is lost. And football can’t be a business, it has to be football… a very select group get to enjoy it.”
