Paraguay go home grown

From temperatures of 33 degrees centigrade when they left Asuncion on Sunday morning, it was all change for the Paraguayan players when they trained in the icy winds sweeping through Belfield yesterday.

The weather wasn't the only difference for the South Americans, however, as they prepared for their first international game since their brave World Cup challenge ended in sudden-death defeat by France at Lens last July.

For the first time in many years Paraguay will pin their hopes on an all-local team. In a situation not dissimilar to that at the FAI, Paraguay have over the years built their team around foreign-based players.

Only three of their squad of 22 players in France were home-based, a statistic which jarred the national conscience so much that it occasioned a major revision of priorities in Paraguayan football.

Now, in the wake of the departure of Brazilian coach Paulo Carpegiani, the man who took them to the World Cup, his successor Hugo Almeida is committed to producing a team which will be more representative of the local game.

"It is our ambition to have more players from Paraguayan clubs in the national team - we believe that this is the way forward," said Almeida. "The players who stay at home must be given this incentive and the game in Dublin is a start."

The structure of the team is not the only contentious issue in a country which if not quite as passionate as Brazil about soccer, rejoiced in the achievement of the team in reaching the last 16 in France.

Later this year, Paraguay will stage the Copa America Cup for the first time, which entails a huge financial investment in installing the infrastructure for one of the major sporting events in South America.

Many believe that in the context of the country's limited financial resources, the money required to modernise stadiums could more prudently be spent improving health and educational facilities.

Jose Luis Chilavert, their celebrated goalkeeper, is one of the critics and he has threatened to quit international football to give substance to his protest. Miguel Benitez, who plays in Spain, backs Chilavert's stand and the impression is one of a country embroiled in a crisis of priorities.

How that effects their performance tonight remains to be seen.