Paraguay has named Julio Enciso in its starting lineup for its opening World Cup match against the United States, a selection made less than a week after the attacker suffered a right-thigh muscle contusion on June 5.
Enciso sustained the injury during Paraguay's friendly with Nicaragua, showing clear discomfort around the 22-minute mark before being replaced and leaving the field with assistance from the cart. Coach Gustavo Alfaro included him on the team sheet for Paraguay's first match of the tournament being held in the United States.
The decision to start Enciso is notable for its timing. The contusion and the manner of his exit from the Nicaragua friendly — early in the first half and with visible pain — had raised immediate concerns about whether he would be available for Paraguay's opening fixture, less than one week later.
Alfaro's selection makes Enciso a focal point of Paraguay's attack as the team prepares for its tournament opener. Paraguay will face the United States in what is its first game on U.S. soil at this World Cup; elsewhere in the tournament, Mexico opened the competition the day before with a win over South Africa, and Canada played its opening match on Friday, drawing Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The friction in the lineup choice is simple and practical: Enciso was hurt in a match less than a week ago, visibly in pain at the 22-minute mark and removed with a cart, yet he is nonetheless listed to start against one of the tournament hosts. The selection answers the availability question in the short term but leaves open whether the player is fully recovered and physically capable of enduring a full World Cup match.
What is not yet resolved is whether Enciso can complete the game if called on to do so. The friendly ended with him substituted early and assisted from the pitch, and the coaching staff's immediate follow-up — substitution patterns, medical minutes in warm-up, or any late changes to the bench — will determine how Alfaro manages his minutes against the United States.
The next concrete event for Paraguayan supporters is the match itself: Paraguay versus the United States, Paraguay's first World Cup fixture on U.S. soil. How Alfaro uses Enciso — as a starter who is expected to play substantial minutes, or as a nominal starter whose time on the field will be limited by injury management — will be one of the first tactical decisions to reveal how close the player has come back to full fitness.
Reporting by Diego Gómez.
