Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Paraguayan fans will be keener than ever for their team to land the Copa America after model Larissa Riquelme on Sunday promised to pose nude should they triumph.

The Paraguayans are in Group B with favourites and holders Brazil as well as Ecuador, whom they were facing Sunday, and Venezuela.

And the busty Riquelme gave them extra motivation after making her promise, similar to one she also made during the last World Cup, earning her the sobriquet la ’Novia del Mundial’ (World Cup girlfriend) in her homeland.
"If Paraguay win the Copa America then I shall pose nude on the pitch," she told AFP, gesturing in the direction of the Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez stadium before the Ecuador game.

Argentina has been caught in a polar snap this week with temperatures plunging well below zero Celsius in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere winter.

But Riquelme did her best to bring a warm glow to supporters of Paraguay and Ecuador fans demanding pictures and autographs from the model who eschewed even a coat as she pranced in a sleeveless top in Paraguayan red and white.

"I think we’ll do well at the Copa," forecast Riquelme, who intends to follow all her country’s matches on the spot. Her fans will doubtless hope she is right.

Brazil held by Venezuela

Brazil made a tame entrance into the Copa America on Sunday, missing a host of chances in a goalless draw with ultra-minnows Venezuela at the Estadio Unico in La Plata, outside Buenos Aires.

The five-times world champions had chances - Milan’s Pato notably hitting the woodwork early on. But the longed-for samba football never arrived and it was soon apparent there would be no repeat of the auriverde’s 7-0 thumping of the vinotinto in a 1999 group opener where Ronaldo and co ran riot.

In the other match Sunday, Paraguay and Ecuador also played to a 0-0 draw at the Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez stadium in Santa Fe.  Before Sunday, Brazil had also won all five previous meetings between the two nations in the competition.