| Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra is very much the archetypal Guaraní defender: physically imposing, outstanding in the air yet graceful under pressure. His no-nonsense attitude on the pitch makes him easy to pick out, as does his red hair and abundance of freckles. Suffice to say that the 35-year-old is an old hand on the FIFA World Cup™ stage, having played every minute of his team’s campaigns at France 98 and Korea/Japan 2002. Unfortunately for the experienced centre-back, the Albirroja found their progress blocked in the second round on both occasions, despite a series of exemplary performances from Gamarra himself. Gamarra made his debut for the Paraguay national side on 3 March 1993 against Bolivia and has been a familiar face in the Guarani team ever since. The veteran’s talent and determination have seen him go on to break several records at international level. As well as being his country’s most-capped player, he has also joined a select band of South Americans to have made over 100 international appearances. For many years, the rugged Paraguayan stopper was considered one of the world’s finest defenders, his performances at France 98 the epitome of top-class defending. Paraguay may have fallen to the hosts in an unforgettable round of 16 encounter, but Gamarra excelled during the tournament. Paraguay conceded just two goals and the player himself did not commit a single foul. The icing on the cake came when he received the Best Paraguayan Player award for the second year running from the ABC newspaper. This well-travelled figure leads by example and has emerged unscathed from the wholesale changes affecting the Paraguay squad in recent years. Far from being concerned by the influx of youngsters, the player has taken it upon himself to lead by example. Gamarra’s immense leadership skills were personified at the Olympic Football Tournament in Athens 2004, where he captained his country’s U-23 side to a silver medal as one of three overage players. At club level, Gamarra started out at Paraguayan side Cerro Porteño, where his performances earned him a transfer to Independiente in Argentina in 1992. Things did not go exactly to plan during a short and unspectacular spell, however, and Gamarra ended up back at his former club. In 1995, he took the first steps on his Brazilian footballing adventure by joining Internacional and he has since gone on to represent Corinthians, Flamengo and present club Palmeiras. These stints have come interspersed with spells at various clubs in Europe, with the nomadic Gamarra representing Benfica in Portugal, Spain’s Atletico de Madrid, Greek giants AEK Athens and Italy’s Inter Milan. The next European country on his list is Germany but quite how long he stays there this summer remains to be seen.
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