Paraguay arrive in Japan to play Kirin Cup

The team coached by Argentine Gerardo Martino arrived in Yokohama on Monday to play Kirin Cup; the local national team and Ivory Coast are the other participants.

Paraguay arrived on Monday in Narita airport from Paris, after a stop over in Buenos Aires "with a five-minute delay due to a storm", Argentine coach Gerardo Martino said.

The coach added that the flight was longer than expected, but the 19-player team finally arrived at the hotel in Yokohama.

On Thursday, Paraguay will face Ivory Coast at Yokohama International Stadium; later, they will face Japan at Saitama 2002 stadium on May 27.

"This tournament is important for us because we'll face top-flight teams both in Africa and in Asia; anyway, everything is important for us to get ready for the South American Qualifiers in June, where we'll face Brazil and Bolivia", Martino remarked.

Horacio Pipo Gonzalez will make his debut in Paraguay, which will also count on Apertura Tournament top-scorers Julio Aguilar and Fabio Escobar.

Defender Pedro Sarabia will miss the games due an injury he suffered during the game against Sol de America; he went to hospital.

Once Kirin Cup is over, Paraguay will meet France on May 31 at Toulouse; this is the last international friendly game before the South American Qualifiers, where they will face Brazil on June 15 in Asuncion.

Paraguay lead the standings with 10 points, followed by Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

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