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Pretoria. Paraguay held its nerve to beat Japan 5-3 on penalties on Tuesday to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time after the match had finished in a goalless stalemate.

Japan’s Yuichi Komano hit the crossbar with his team’s third spot kick, the only miss in the first penalty shootout of the finals.

Paraguay, which became the fourth South American team in the last eight, joining Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, will now meet Spain or Portugal.

“Thank God we got through. Paraguay has never gone so far,” said striker Oscar Cardozo, who scored the winning penalty. “We are all very happy, me because I scored the penalty and got it in, thank God.”

The South Americans enjoyed more possession during the 0-0 draw, which produced few clear goal chances at either end.

A cagey opening brought few clear-cut chances, but the game sparked to life in the 20th minute, with Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima saving with his knee from a shot by Lucas Barrios, then Daisuke Matsui cracking the Para­guay crossbar with a curling 25-meter effort.

An out-of-sorts Keisuke Honda had his first clear sight of goal for Japan in the 38th minute, striking the ball first time with the outside of his left foot just past the post.

Paraguay looked set to open the scoring 10 minutes into the second half when Edgar Benitez broke into the left side of the penalty area but his shot was deflected wide by Yuji Nakazawa.

With the score tied at 0-0 after 90 minutes, Japan made a bright start to extra time, Yoshito Okubo bearing down on the Paraguay defense with a surging run from deep in his own half.

Paraguay almost unlocked the Japanese defense seven minutes into extra time when Claudio Morel released substitute Valdez in the box, but goalkeeper Kawashima got out smartly to block.

Paraguay’s Edgar Barreto had his head in his hands moments later when the ball dropped to him in a crowded penalty area but he could do no better than flick it over the bar.


Reuters