Miguel Almirón’s World Cup hasn’t gone according to plan.
In the first half of Paraguay’s Round of 32 match against Germany, though, the Atlanta United man delivered, getting involved in the buildup of Julio Enciso’s opening goal as La Albirroja took a shock 1-0 lead over the four-time champions in the 42nd minute.
Júnior Alonso, rumored to be on his way to Atlanta soon, had a point-blank chance early in the second minute that threatened to put Paraguay in the lead. The match petered out from there until much later in the half. That’s when Almirón’s nifty move helped him get past Germany defender Nathaniel Brown. Almirón then found the run of former Atlanta teammate Matías Galarza, whose cross into the box was headed home past Manuel Neuer by Enciso to make it 1-0.
Here’s the video:
There’s still another half to go in this one. But if it holds up, Paraguay will have pulled off its most significant win in soccer history, even bigger than its Round of 16 win in penalties against Japan in 2010’s World Cup.
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