Vera, Riveros Goals Lead Dominant Paraguay Past Slovakia, 2-0

A late Cristian Riveros goal put the match away, but with the Slovaks failing to threaten until injury time, when they were already down two, there may have never been a match to put away. Paraguay went up in the 27th minute through Enrique Vera and, after that, were never threatened.

With their 2-0 victory, Paraguay sits at the top of Group F, holding four points ahead of an Italy-New Zealand match that could see one of their group counterparts pull even. Slovakia remains on one point and, facing Italy in their last match of the group, are now unlikely to go through to the knockout stage.

Enrique Vera’s 27th minute goal has carried Paraguay into halftime with a 1-0 lead, controlling the first 45 minutes against Slovakia.

Vera scored in the middle of the half with an assist from Lucas Barrios, finishing with the outside of his right foot from 17 yards out.

Winger Enrique Vera has put Paraguay on top of Slovakia 1-0 in the 27th minute of Sunday’s early match, using the outside of his right foot to finish past Jan Mucha from 17 yards out.

The opportunity was created by Lucas Barrios who carried the ball across the top of the penalty area before feeding through a number of Slovakia defenders to an oncoming Vera. Center back-cum-left back Jan Durica was slow reacted to Vera’s run, allowing the Paraguayan enough room to one-time te ball with the outside of his right foot, curling a shot into the left side of Durica’s net.

Those needs belie two teams that are very evenly matched. Paraguay’s wealth of attacking talent is offset by Slovakia’s strength in midfield, with the potential deciding factor being the team’s willingness to use their strengths. A conservative approach from their coach kept Paraguay from using their firepower in their first match, while a formation chance away from four midfielders mitigated Slovakia’s advantages against New Zealand.

How The Match Turns: If Paraguay places as aggressively as their pre-match formation changes hint, they could be underestimating the Slovaks, and while Gerardo Martino rarely makes such mistakes, the Slovak midfield could make him pay for not showing them similar reverence that was shown the Italians.