Paraguay counting on backing of German fans

Published on 08/06/2006 01:17

PARAGUAY hope to use the long-standing England-Germany rivalry to their advantage when they face Sven-Goran Eriksson's side in their first World Cup Group B match on Saturday. "We have the advantage because the fans will be rooting more for us than for the English," striker Nelson Valdes said yesterday.

"So the chances for us against England are there. We just have to take them and the German fans will help us," he said.

Valdes said local fans would generally support them more because three of their players play in the Bundesliga.

"We have a very big advantage over the other teams. We have three players in the team who know the fans and the fans know them," said Valdes, who plays for Werder Bremen. The other two, Julio Dos Santos and Roque Santa Cruz, play for German champions Bayern Munich.

However, Santa Cruz suffered a fresh injury setback yesterday which could rule him out of the game. The striker has been battling to be fit for the England match after being dogged by knee injuries for the last couple of seasons, and it had been widely assumed he would recover in time.

But Santa Cruz was forced to leave training after just 35 minutes citing pain in his left knee, sparking new fears about his fitness.