The coach of Paraguay Gerardo Martino announced his initial squad selection for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the name of Lucas Barrios was definitely an unexpected addition. Barrios was born in Argentina and less than two months ago he started his dual citizenship process hoping to get a chance to be in the World Cup competition. Barrios was granted the Paraguayan citizenship on April 8 2010 and now is on his way to South Africa with his new country and national team.
Lucas Barrios is having an amazing season with his club Borussia Dortmund, and he has already scored 18 goals in just 31 Bundesliga matches. Barrios is a talented goal scorer known for his effectiveness in the target area, and Paraguay will definitely need a good striker in the 2010 World Cup since their top scorer Salvador Cabañas has not yet fully recovered.
Cabañas was shot in the head inside a Mexican night club on January 25, and was in critical condition for almost a month. The hospital doctors decided that it was too risky to extract the bullet from his head, but despite having a piece of metal stuck in his skull the player amazingly managed to recover. Cabañas was hoping to fully recover in time to compete in the World Cup, but now it seems he is not 100% ready.
Paraguay is playing in Group F of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa against Italy, New Zealand and Slovakia.
