Cruz blasts jaded England
Santa Cruz was surprised how tired Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side looked during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Paraguay in Frankfurt, which came about courtesy of an own goal from Carlos Gamarra.
He believes a long domestic season — plus the heat — was to blame, even though Eriksson gained an extra week of preparation and rest time for his squad to prepare for Germany.
Santa Cruz said: “Paraguay played better at times than England and overall I didn’t see a difference between the two teams.
“But we gave away a bad goal early on and it’s difficult to score against a good England defence but I think we deserved a fair result.
“If you look at them player for player, England are among the best. But they have to get a lot better. They have the possibility of doing great things in the World Cup because of the huge talent they have in the team.
“I was surprised England were not better against us. I believe they can play much better as a team. “Against us you could see also they were very tired from their long league season and for that reason I think they could play the same as normally they do.
“We saw England were looking tired in the first half. It was strange they were feeling it that early in the game and in the competition. It was also surprising England kept giving the ball back to us.”
Paraguay now have to gain a positive result against Sweden — surprisingly held to a goalless draw by Trinidad and Tobago — to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last 16.
However Jose Luis Chilavert has criticised Paraguay’s display against an England side he describes as the “worst in history”.
The former Paraguay goalkeeper believes Anibal Ruiz’s men should have salvaged at least a draw as England wilted in the heat.
Chilavert renowned for his own scoring ability from set-pieces, insists Paraguay’s players lacked the mental strength.
The 40-year-old said: “They lost against probably the worst English national team in their history. The Paraguayan players did not have enough attitude.”
Santa Cruz was another to come in for criticism. The Bayern
Munich striker had battled a knee injury all week but was passed fit to play. “He was not in good enough form to play. He never played strong,” said Chilavert.
Meanwhile Rio Ferdinand has revealed Wayne Rooney, out for six weeks with a broken foot, is now straining at the leash to play.
Ferdinand said: “He was desperate to get on the pitch. Fingers crossed he’ll be able to play a part soon.” Sven-Goran Eriksson has said he will not play Rooney until he is match fit but did not rule out a comeback against Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday.”
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