Roque Santa Cruz has been recalled to the Paraguay squad for their forthcoming friendly against Athletic Bilbao.
City striker recalled to Paraguay squad
Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz has been recalled to the Paraguay squad for their forthcoming friendly against Athletic Bilbao.
Santa Cruz has struggled with injuries since moving to Eastlands in the summer but Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino is keen to take him to South Africa as part of his World Cup squad.
Martino is hopeful the influential front man will be able to prove his fitness between now and the end of the season.
"It's important that he has been playing," said Martino.
"He has been playing some minutes at Manchester City and that's good because it means that he is getting better from the pain that he had in his knee.
"Now we are going to play against a team that is in the top division of Spanish football so we have a guarantee that it's an important match."
Paraguay have scheduled further friendlies against Republic of Ireland, the Ivory Coast and Greece.
Paraguay squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Valladolid) and Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño).
Defenders: Denis Caniza (León), Darío Verón (Pumas), Antolín Alcaraz (Brujas), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors) and Miguel Samudio (Libertad).
Midfielders: Sergio Aquino and Víctor Cáceres (Libertad), Rodrigo Rojas (River Plate), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul), Jonathan Santana (Wolsfburg) and Néstor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors).
Strikers: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Rodolfo Gamarra and Javier González (Libertad) and Nelson Haedo (Borussia Dortmund).
