Paraguay officially began their World Cup preparations as Gerardo Martino gave out his preliminary list of players and as expected Lucas Barrios was on the list.  The former Colo Colo man is happy to have been called up weeks after he did his paperwork for Paraguayan citizenship. 

He will fill in for America star Salvador Cabañas who was shot in a club in Mexico City back in January. 

The Argentine-born Barrios is yet another nationalized player to join the Albirroja much to the controversy in Paraguay. He is the third nationalized player alongside Jonathan Santana and Néstor Ortigoza who plays for Lanús. Barrios will form part of a formidable group of forwards led by Borussia Dortmund teammate Nelson Haedo Valdez, Manchester City's Roque Santa Cruz, and Benfica's Oscar Cardozo.

Overall the majority of the team comes from Germany, Argentina, and Mexico.   Martino did count with four domestic players that came from the two top teams in the Paraguayan league- Cerro Porteño and Libertad. 

The biggest shock was the inclusion of 36-year-old Denis Caniza to the list. Caniza could make it to his fourth consecutive World Cup. The former Cruz Azul, Olimpia, and Nacional man is currently also playing in the Mexican Primera A with León.

Coach Gerardo Martino will give out the final 23-man roster on June 1st. Paraguay will participate in Group F alongside Italy, Slovakia, and New Zealand.

Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Valladolid-ESP), Aldo Bobadilla (Deportivo Independiente Medellín-COL), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño)

Defenders: Denis Caniza (León- MEX), Darío Verón (Pumas-MEX), Julio Cáceres, Antolín Alcaraz (Brugge-BEL), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland-ENG), Claudio Morel Rodríguez (Boca Juniors-ARG), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo-ARG), Julio Manzur (Racing Club-ARG), Marcos Caceres (Cerro Porteño).

Midfielders: Enrique Vera (LDUQ-ECU), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul-MEX), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta-ITA), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg- GER), Néstor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors-ARG), Víctor Cáceres (Libertad), Eduardo Ledesma (Lanús-ARG), Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell's Old Boys- ARG), Sergio Aquino (Libertad).

Forwards: Osvaldo Martínez (Monterrey- MEX), Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City-ENG), Nelson Haedo Valdez(Borussia Dortmund- GER), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund- GER), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica-POR), Edgar Benítez (Pachuca- MEX), Jorge Achucarro (Newell's Old Boys- ARG), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad).

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