World Cup 2006 News
Fan of the Day: World Cup history lessons from Paraguay fan Horacio
Jun 24, 2006, 18:32 GMT
Nelson Cuevas from Paraguay celebrates his 2-0 goal during the group B match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup between Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Tuesday 20 June 2006. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Wuerzburg, Germany - 'Alfredo Stroessner', says Paraguayan fan Horacio to a young German supporter. 'His father was German but he was born in Paraguay and he was our President for 35 years from 1954 until 1989.
'He was yet another South American dictator - a tyrant like Jorge Videla in Argentina, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and Hugo Banzer in Bolivia. And he was a Nazi sympathiser who guaranteed political asylum for Josef Mengele,' adds 49-year-old Horacio.
His young friend is listening and wants to know more about one of the lesser known countries in the world. 'Does the relationship between Germany and Paraguay start and end with Stroessner?' asks the fan.
'Well, there are at least 200,000 people in Paraguay of German descent,' says Horacio. 'And, of course they all have a much better reputation'.
The young German fan breaths a sigh of relief. 'But let us not forget the most important thing,' adds Horacio, the serious look returning to his face. 'Paraguayans have Nelson Valdez in Borussia Dortmund and Roque Santa Cruz in Bayern Munich, that's enough isn't it?'
And both of them start laughing. This is the World Cup after all.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Sean BurgesJun 26th, 2006 - 12:05:26
Don't forget that Paraguay was also apparently the test-ground for the Blitzkreig attack. Germany backed Bolivia in the horrendous 1930s war of the Chaco, testing out simultaneous attacks on land, in the air, and across the limited water available. Like their football teams in France 1998 and Korea/Japan 2002, Paraguay resisted, resisted, resisted, then when the Bolivians were tired, counter-attacked.
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