Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro has urged officials to reassess the placement of pitch-side advertising boards at the World Cup, following an incident where attacker Julio Enciso crashed into one during their goalless draw against Australia on Thursday.
Enciso came off second best as he battled Australia defender Alessandro Circati for the ball behind the goal in the second half at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
He rose gingerly after contact but played out the remainder of the game.
Speaking after the match, Alfaro said: “I think that maybe if there was more space that will be good because of course there’s a lot of intensity when we are playing, and sometimes if a player gets destabilised, he could fall and get injured and these things can happen.
“So, maybe we have to think about that and reassess.”
The 0-0 result leaves Paraguay third in Group D, behind winners the United States and second-placed Australia, both of whom have reached the last 32.
Paraguay must now await other group stage results to determine if they will advance as one of the eight best third-placed teams.
Despite the uncertainty, Alfaro remained optimistic about his side’s progression, praising his players’ reaction after their opening 4-1 defeat by the United States.
“Recovering from such a hard result was really hard for us, and in spite of that, our team has been very solid in the past two games,” he stated.
Reuters
