Greece beaten 2-0 by Paraguay in final warm-up game before World Cup

Confidence is critically low in the Greek camp with just 9 days remaining before their first game in South Africa. Paraguay got the better of Greece in Winterthur, Switzerland, as both sides continued their preparations for the World Cup. Enrique Vera opened the scoring inside nine minutes, following up after Roque Santa Cruz hit the bar. And when another effort from the Manchester City striker was parried by keeper Alexandros Tzorvas, Lucas Barrios was on hand to fire home his third goal in as many caps, to give Paraguay a 2-0 lead with only 25 minutes played. The Greek defense fell asleep on both goals and were caught ball watching as Paraguay scored on rebounds. Greece striker Dimitris Salpingidis then had an effort ruled out for offside and Alexandros Tziolis and Georgios Samaras went close before half-time. Paraguay keeper Justo Villar did well to save Vasilis Torosidis' curling effort and Tziolis volleyed wide, but thereafter Greece were quiet. The result could have been a lot worse for Greece if Giourkas Seitaridis hadn't cleared a sure goal off the line by Roque Santa Cruz. If that wasn't bad enough another goal-saving intervention was needed from Avraam Papadopoulos in the second half to rob Santa Cruz again. Paraguay cruised to victory, and the match ended with a lengthy spell of keep away by the South Americans. This represents another setback for Greece following last Tuesday's embarrassing 2-2 draw with North Korea, in which the Euro 2004 champs held the lead twice. Otto Rehhagel has only a small window to correct the mistakes and get his players firing on all cylinders or else Greece might find their stay in South Africa short-lived.