Lucas Barrios - Players to star in South Africa

Written by Dave Allan Thursday, 10 June 2010 00:00

England World Cup Blog

Lucas Barrios was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina on the 13th of November 1984 and has been forced to denounce his citizenship to play for Paraguay, the country his mother comes from. The fact that Argentina do not appear to allow dual nationality  is likely to have made it a much tougher decision to switch allegiance.

However the striker will no doubt be delighted with his decision given that with the current crop of Argentina strikers: Messi, Higuain, Tevez and Milito, it would have been virtually impossible to break into that team. However, the man nicknamed La Pantera (The Panther,) has proven throughout his career that he is no slouch in front of goal and his goals per game ratio is excellent.

Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga are the latest team to benefit from his predatory instincts and 19 goals from just 33 have made managers across Europe sit up and take notice. The simple truth is that Barrios has all the attributes that mark him out as a terrific talent. At 6ft 2 and as you would expect he is good in the air and makes a decent target man but over and above that is his natural instinct to be in the right place at the right time.

Barrios has only been eligible to play for Paraguay since March this year and has been given the opportunity to play just three times for La Albirroja. His response has been three goals in these games which made it a no-brainer for selection to the squad. Barrios is 25 years old and this stage will allow him to prove, as he has done throughout his career so far, that he is a deadly marksman.

Check out the latest odds on Paraguay to win the World Cup



   

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