Paraguay coach Anibal Ruiz has named a 20-man squad for the international friendly with Wales in Cardiff on March 1. Paraguay captain Carlos Gamarra will be missing his country's World Cup warm-up friendly against Wales at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium next Wednesday because of injury.

The former Inter Milan centre back, and veteran of the 1998 and 2002 World Cup Finals, was injured playing for his Brazilian club Palmeiras on Wednesday.

Coach Anibal Ruiz called up Julio Manzur of Brazil's Santos to replace Gamarra in his squad on Friday and said he would promote Juan Caceres of Argentine club Estudiantes de la Plata to the starting line-up.

There are only three Paraguayan-based players in the squad, with striker Jose Saturnino Cardozo being selected even though he is carrying a knee injury from playing with his club-side San Lorenzo in Argentina.

Paraguay arranged the friendly as preparation for their opening World Cup Group B match against England in the June 9-July 9 tournament in Germany.

Paraguay will also play friendly matches against Mexico, Norway, Denmark, Georgia and German club-side Bavaria ahead of the World Cup finals in Germany where they have been drawn in Group B alongside England, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden.

Paraguay squad to face Wales (team to be chosen from):

Goalkeepers: J Villar (Newell's Old Boys), D Gomez (Sportivo Luqueno);

Defenders: D Caniza (Cruz Azul), JC Caceres (River Plate), C Gamarra (Palmeiras), D Toledo (Real Zaragoza), P Da Silva (Toluca), JD Caceres (Estudiantes), J Nunez (Estudiantes);

Midfielders: E Barreto (NEC Nijmegen), R Acuna (Deportivo La Coruna), C Paredes (Reggina), J Dos Santos (Bayern Munich), C Riveros (Libertad), D Gavilan (Newell's Old Boys), W Fretes (Cerro Porteno);

Strikers: N Haedo Valdez (Werder Bremen), C Ramirez (Flamengo), J Saturnino Cardozo (Toluca), S Cabanas (Jaguares).

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