The Paraguay national team head coach Ramon Diaz has submitted the 39-player preliminary roster for the 2016 Copa America Centenario happening in the United States. Tournament rules require the final 23 player roster to be turned in no later than May 20 to the Local Organizing Committee, in which them and the remaining 15 nations particpating in the tournament will have to do by then.
A big test
Out of 39 names included of that team, all but four names were included in the Copa America squad last summer in Chile, in which La Albirroja finished fourth. They will be looking to show another expectational performance in a group pitted with Colombia, Costa Rica, and the hosts, the United States.
They take on Costa Rica in Orlando, Florida at the Citrus Bowl on June 4 in their first group match before traveling west to take on Colombia on June 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and finish off their group matches against the hosts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Lincoln Financial Field.
Preparation plans
Ramon Diaz will announce the final list of 23 players on May 9 in a news conference at noon, in the press room of the Defensores del Chaco Stadium in Asuncion.
The trip to Orlando, the city which will be the training base for the national team, is scheduled for May 23 in which four days later, they will travel to Atlanta to play a friendly on the following day at the Georgia Dome against Mexico.
The training venue in Orlando will be at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex while the team hotel will be the Orlando World Center Marriott. In Pasadena, Paraguay will train at the StubHub Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy and in Philadelphia, they will train at the Philadelphia Union Training Center and Chester Park.
The 39-man roster
Goalkeepers (4): Justo Villar (Colo Colo, Chile), Antony Silva (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Alfredo Aguilar (Guaraní, Paraguay) y Diego Barreto (Olimpia, Paraguay).
Defenders (11): Paulo Da Silva (Toluca, México), Pablo Aguilar (América, México), Gustavo Gómez (Lanús, Argentina), Fabián Balbuena (Corinthians, Brazil), Juan Patiño (Guaraní, Paraguay), Saúl Salcedo (Olimpia, Paraguay), Miguel Samudio (América, México), Bruno Valdez (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Iván Piris (Udinese, Italy), Raúl Cáceres (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Blas Riveros (Olimpia, Paraguay).
Midfielders (12): Nestor Ortigoza (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Víctor Cáceres (Al-Rayyan, Qatar), Oscar Romero (Rácing, Argentina), Robert Piris Da Motta (Olimpia, Paraguay), Osvaldo Martínez (América, México), Rodrigo Rojas (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), Víctor Ayala (Lanús, Argentina), Celso Ortiz (AZ Alkmaar, The Netherlands), Jonathan Santana (Cerro Porteño, Paraguay), William Mendieta (Olimpia, Paraguay), Miguel Almirón (Lanús, Argentina) y Jesús Medina (Libertad, Paraguay).
Strikers (12): Roque Santa Cruz (Málaga, Spain), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Seattle Sounders FC, United States), Lucas Barrios (Palmeiras, Brazil), Antonio Sanabria (Sporting de Gijón, Spain), Edgar Benítez (Querétaro, México), Hernán Pérez (Espanyol, España), Derlis González FC Dynamo (Ukraine), Darío Lezcano (FC Ingolstadt 04, Germany), Juan Iturbe (AFC Bournemouth, England), Jorge Benítez (Cruz Azul, México), Ángel Romero (Corinthians, Brazil), Raúl Bobadilla (FC Augsburg, Germany)