This Monday, September 3, 2018, the Paraguay national team officially announced former Mexico boss Juan Carlos Osorio as its new manager. The Colombian tactician is set to be with Los Guaranies up until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and will also lead the charge in the 2019 Copa America competition.
La Albirroja looks to get back into the World Cup after missing the 2014 and 2018 editions of the global tournament. Osorio coached Mexico from 2015-2018 and breezed through the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, but it should be a lot tougher in the unforgiving CONMEBOL region.
The 57-year-old does have experience in South American football, but at the club level with teams like Millonarios, Once Caldas, Atletico Nacional and Sao Paulo. Like most teams after the World Cup, Paraguay will be entering a new phase and will try to build a new core heading into the 2022 World Cup.
⚪🔴 ¡Tenemos técnico para el operativo Qatar 2022! El colombiano Juan Carlos Osorio dirigirá a nuestros jugadores en el camino a la clasificación para el próximo Mundial. #Albirroja! #Oñondive #VamosParaguay 🇵🇾⚽https://t.co/FgA5SJTLBA pic.twitter.com/usJYP93mOP
— Selección Paraguaya (@Albirroja) September 3, 2018
Players like Cecilio Dominguez, Bruno Valdez, Gustavo Gomez, Antonio Sanabria and Miguel Almiron should be some of the key figures in this new era. This will be Osorio’s toughest task in his career and the pressure will be immense having to compete with teams like Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay.
