"26 warriors came back as legends": Alfaro on Paraguay's win vs Germany

Paraguay stunned Germany, winning a penalty shootout to advance to the FIFA World Cup's round of 16. Head coach Gustavo Alfaro hailed his team as '26 warriors' who 'came back as legends', ending Germany's run and their perfect shootout record.

Following his side's win over Germany on penalties in their round of 32 fixture, Paraguay head coach Gustavo Alfaro hailed his side, saying that "26 warriors" went out there and came back as "legends".

Germany's post 2014 FIFA World Cup downfall continued as they crashed out in the round of 32 after being ousted in the group stage in their previous two editions. They suffered their first-ever FIFA World Cup elimination in a penalty shootout, having won each of their previous four shootouts at the tournament. It was also only their second defeat on penalties at a major international tournament, the first coming against Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA European Championship final (5-3), as per OptaJoe.

Alfaro: '26 Warriors Came Back as Legends'

Now, Paraguay has a chance to match its best-ever finish of reaching the quarterfinals, which it did in the 2010 World Cup. Speaking after the match, as quoted by Reuters, "We never believe that we are beaten. Twenty-six warriors went out there, and they came back as legends."

The Argentine coach faced some scrutiny after Paraguay opened their campaign with a 1-4 thrashing to co-hosts the US and scored only one more goal in the other two matches, squeezing into the round of 32 with a win, a loss and a draw, giving them four points, which were enough to give them a spot amongst the best eighth-placed third-finishing teams. Alfaro also said that the team would have never been prepared for this match had they not learned from the setback against the US. "If we had not learned from the loss, we would not have been prepared for this match. I told the players that we have lived through an epic evening," he added.

An Epic, Hard-Fought Victory

Paraguay opened the scoring with a strike from Julio Enciso in the 42nd minute before Kai Havertz levelled the scores in the 54th minute. The South Americans survived a controversially disallowed goal from VAR and took the match to penalties, with Jose Canale hammering the match-winning kick.

"As things always are with us, we do not do things without suffering," Alfaro said. "Canale is one of life's champions because he has had to go through a lot of adversity. A night like this is one of the gifts that life can give you. It is divine justice," he signed off.

Paraguay's Path Forward

Paraguay will be playing either France or Sweden on July 4 in their round of 16 match. (ANI)

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