Haedo Valdez completes remarkable rise to finals

ASUNCION, May 24: Injuries to first-choice pair Roque Santa Cruz and Jose Cardozo could leave 23-year-old Nelson Haedo Valdez with the responsibility of leading Paraguay's World Cup attack.

Santa Cruz is still recovering after suffering knee ligament damage during a Bundesliga match for Bayern Munich in October and, even if the injury is better, will still be struggling for match fitness.

Cardozo, 35, has been hit by a spate of injuries since joining Argentina's San Lorenzo.

Haedo Valdez left his homeland at the age of 18 without having played a professional game.

Werder Bremen spotted him playing for obscure amateur club Atletico Tembetary and invited him to Germany for a trial. He accepted and never looked back.

Like Santa Cruz, Haedo is tall and strong in the air but he is also deceptively good on the ground with excellent control.

He scored 15 goals in 30 games for Bremen's reserve team in 2002 and was promoted to the first team the following year.

He scored 12 goals in his first 50 Bundesliga outings, helping his side to win an unprecedented league and cup double in 2004.

He played for Paraguay at the world youth championship in 2003, but was not immediately picked by the senior side and became increasingly frustrated.

He was finally given his chance at the Copa America in 2004, scoring his first goal the following month in a friendly against El Salvador.

His second, in the 1-0 win away to Venezuela, was more important.

It was a typically opportunist effort, scored on the turn after hesitancy in the home defence, and it was the goal which guaranteed his country a place at their third successive World Cup.

REUTERS