Paraguay – J.L. Chilavert: “Our greatest wish is to beat France”

Jose Luis CHILAVERT (1), captain:

“Our greatest wish is to beat FRANCE. The international press don’t give us much of a chance, but I have no doubts in my mind; we’ve got some fine players. In the first round we weren’t favourites but we knocked out BULGARIA and SPAIN. And even though FRANCE really want to win playing at home, I don’t think they are necessarily better than everyone else. Of course I would love to score a goal, but first and foremost I’m here to defend and to reassure my team-mates. I don’t know Fabien BARTHEZ very well, but he’s never scored a goal up till now.”

Miguel BENITEZ (15):

“Our thoughts are geared totally towards winning going into this second round game and we’re not even thinking about defeat. It will be a very difficult game because FRANCE will have a lot of home support, but that doesn’t frighten us. We’re highly motivated to win, too. We’re haven’t got through to the second round by chance. We’ve simply reaped the rewards of our hard work. After scoring the winning goal against NIGERIA, I’m hoping to do the same against FRANCE, not only for the team but also for PARAGUAY, because it would be a momentous occasion for the country if we were to beat FRANCE.”

Celso AYALA (5):

“We’ve got the chance of knocking out the host country, and we’re going to do everything we can to surprise the French and qualify for the quarter finals. I think it will be a very open match and it will be the best team who wins. As with our first three matches, we will be relying on a very compact defence, very tight marking and close one-on-one pressure. We will give everything for a victory which would be the greatest reward we could offer our fellow Paraguayans.”