For Paraguayan defender José Canale, who scored the decisive penalty that eliminated four-time champions Germany from the World Cup, the road to glory on the world stage was long and often difficult.
Canale, who turns 30 in July, spent years of his career on loan at clubs, alternating between Paraguay, Argentina and Mexico and struggling with his fitness and conditioning after failing to establish himself at his first club, Libertad, in Asunción.
But a more consistent run of good performance for Lanús, in Buenos Aires, this year — and a decisive header in the Recopa Sudamericana final against Flamengo, at Maracanã, in February — caught the attention of Paraguay coach, Gustavo Alfaro, who included him in his squad for the World Cup as a reserve.
The defender got his chance against Germany this Monday (29) due to an injury to Omar Alderete, normally Alfaro’s first choice.
In his first start in an official game for the national team, Canale played a fundamental role in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup.
Alongside Paraguayan captain Gustavo Gómez in defense, he nullified the threat of German striker Deniz Undav, and although Canale gave Kai Havertz a yard of space to head Germany’s equalizer, he limited the Arsenal star to just a few more chances throughout normal time and extra time.
When the match went to penalties, Canale was not on coach Alfaro’s list of the top five penalty takers. But after two players on each side missed their shots and the contest went to sudden death, he prepared to bat.
After seeing German defender Jonathan Tah send the ball over the crossbar, Canale took a deep breath, relaxed his shoulders and sent Manuel Neuer the wrong way with a left-footed shot that put the ball into the roof of the net and condemned Germany to their first World Cup penalty shootout defeat.
“Canale is one of life’s champions because he had to go through a lot of adversity,” said Alfaro. “A night like this is one of the gifts that life can give. It is divine justice.”
Canale must be pinching himself as Paraguay prepare to face France or Sweden in the round of 16 next Saturday (4), possibly with him in the team again if Alderete does not recover from his injury in time.
Asked by a reporter in November, when Lanús won the Copa Sudamericana, whether he could earn a place in Paraguay’s World Cup squad, Canale was modest.
“As a football player, you go through difficult things at the beginning,” he said. “I just do what I can for Lanús day in and day out. After that, we’ll see what happens.”
