Ideas, knowledge and insight into Paraguayan football are not in short supply. Even so, when Antolin Alcaraz took charge of the nation’s U-20 team midway through the recently concluded South American U-20 Championship in Venezuela, he had a huge task on his hands.

Paraguay had just been thrashed 6-0 by Uruguay in the first stage and faced two massive matches, against the host nation and then Chile, to determine whether they would reach the final phase. Having replaced Aldo Pedro Duscher on the hot-seat, suddenly everything fell into place.

Back-to-back victories sent the nation into the six-team final stage where they recovered from defeat against Colombia to ease past Chile 2-1 and then exact a notable measure of revenge against Uruguay. A 1-0 win in Caracas completed a stunning turnaround under the guidance of the 42-year-old coach that helped get the team back on track and earned them a place in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™, which starts on 27 September.

“We really didn’t do anything special,” Alcaraz told FIFA, but achieving their qualification goal was no small feat as La Albirroja return to the finals after a twelve-year absence, having last played at Turkey 2013, where they exited in the round of 16.

FIFA: What does qualifying mean for Paraguay?

Antolin Alcaraz: It feels great if I’m honest. We’re so happy to have achieved what we came here for. I’m delighted by how hard the boys worked because they are the stars of the show at the end of the day. There is always a hugely positive knock-on effect from these kinds of events. The youngsters are looking for opportunities, not only to develop as players, but in all aspects of their lives.

Whenever you play football, all you can do is dream of taking part in competitions and giving yourself that chance. We want them to get experience playing against teams from other, top-level countries. These are the kinds of opportunities that help players learn and grow. Youth players can really benefit from it, but I think senior players do too. It has a highly positive impact by offering them the chance to make their dreams come true.

What does Paraguay need to do to compete against these top-level teams?

We know that we have plenty of room for improvement. After seeing the standard of the other teams in this competition, we now have a better picture about what we need to work on. There is a lot of positive work going on that we need to build on. So, we are heading in the right direction. We set out to put ourselves in this situation and get the experience we were looking for.

Do you think any of the players in this group have a chance of making the senior squad?

The senior team’s coaching staff are keeping a close eye on things. They ultimately have the final say based on what they want or what they are looking for. All I do is fine-tune their skills, guiding the youngsters and giving them more tools and opportunities to do things well so that they get noticed by the senior team coach.

How would you define the style of Paraguayan football?

Football is tied to the culture of each country. We have a reputation for being tough, determined and hard-working. Everyone knows that. Now it’s time to start building on it. Without losing our core values, we need to add new aspects to give us a better chance of competing against other countries. I think the U-20 team showed what it means to be a Paraguayan footballer once again, and that’s something that can’t ever be taken away.

How did you feel about stepping up to lead the team mid-tournament?

You have to be ready for these things that crop up unexpectedly. As a player, these can happen too. We really didn’t do anything special, other than managing emotions and introducing a few details. Since we were short on time due to the number of days and the time between matches and training, it was just a case of managing rest periods.

That said, we already had a core group that had been working together since I had already been with them since the pre-season. The boys have made an enormous effort and responded magnificently. This works in their favour too. When faced with adversity, picking ourselves up and learning is something we look for in these competitions.

I have to say that the APF provides us with excellent infrastructure for all our training programmes, as is the case with our facilities in Paraguay, for instance. We are also very grateful to President Harrison, who has equipped us fully with all the tools necessary to ensure we are in the best possible shape for these competitions.