Gerardo Martino is taking nothing for granted ahead of Paraguay's crunch clash with New Zealand on Thursday.
Paraguay boss wary of All Whites threat ahead of Group F finale
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino is taking nothing for granted ahead of his side's crunch Group F finale against New Zealand on Thursday.
Martino's side go into the game topping the group after an opening 1-1 draw against world champions Italy and then a 2-0 win over Slovakia.
Despite needing just a draw to progress, Martino is taking nothing for granted against a physical All Whites side who have earned creditable draws against Slovakia and Italy so far.
He said: "The match is going to be more similar to the match with Slovakia.
"New Zealand have a different style to that of Italy but they also create other types of complications.
"We have a lot of respect for their physicality as they know how to exploit this.
"I can't imagine any coach who is not aware of this. I don't think it is going to be easy in any way."
Villa wary
Captain Justo Villa is also wary of the All Whites' physical and aerial threat, saying: "A large part of their football is based on their robustness and they will probably try to capitalise on that.
"But we have our own strong points. We know the type of football we want to play and are playing better match after match.
"We will try to avoid any hiccups due to the physical strength of our opponents."
Despite winning many plaudits for the way they have performed at this World Cup, Martino said it would count for nothing if they fail to progress to the knock-out phase.
Opportunity
"I think we are facing this game thinking that we have not really done much so far," he added.
"This match will give us the opportunity to move on to the next stage.
"Nothing we have done so far will be useful unless we play a good match and win.
"My concern is not about scoring goals but creating goalscoring opportunities.
"We were able to score goals (against Slovakia, a 2-0 win) but we should have converted more and been more precise.
"We have not had much time to address this issue but we want to continue creating goalscoring opportunities."
