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Orlando Gill knew Paraguay was a big underdog against Germany in their World Cup knockout-round opener.
Heck, he was even a little starstruck himself.
But the 26-year-old goalkeeper, appearing in his first World Cup, bested German great Manuel Neuer in a penalty shootout to help La Albirroja send the four-time World Cup champions home.
"It showed that you shouldn’t speak too soon," Gill said after helping the 5-to-1 underdogs advance to the Round of 16. "This proves that Paraguay is capable of achieving great things. The opportunity was bound to come sooner or later."
A 6-foot-6 monolith who plays for Argentine club San Lorenzo, Gill helped Paraguay reach the knockout round with clean sheets in a 1-0 group victory over Turkey and a 0-0 draw with Australia.
But Gill, who also gave up four goals to the United States in the group stage, would need to be even better against the powerful Germans, who possessed the ball more than twice as long as Paraguay and attempted 21 shots on goal to Paraguay's seven.
"It was like a horror movie. Germans were popping up everywhere," Gill said. "Even I still can’t believe it."
And backing them up was Neuer, who was playing in his fifth World Cup, having led Germany to the 2014 championship — finishing third in the Ballon d’Or balloting that year behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi — and taken Bayern Munich to two Champions League titles and 13 Bundesliga championships.
"Neuer is a world-class goalkeeper," Gill said. "I shared a shootout with him, and he managed to save a penalty, too. I have nothing but respect for an idol like him."
(Photo by Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
Gill made one mistake in regulation, allowing Kai Havertz’s equalizer in the 54th minute. Another German goal — the potential game-winner — was disallowed in the 12th minute of extra time after a video review determined that Waldemar Anton interfered with Gill to clear a path for Jonathan Tah’s would-be score.
And when it came to the penalty kicks, Gill earned his trophy as the man of the match.
Gill gave Paraguay the edge when he stopped the first attempt of the shootout from Havertz — throwing out his right arm to deflect the ball. Paraguay made its first three kicks to take a 3-2 lead before Gill made another save, this time on Nick Woltemade.
(Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
That meant Paraguay only needed to make one of its last two kicks to win it.
But Antonino Sanabria sent the ball wide to the left, and Neuer stopped Fabian Balbuena to send the shootout into sudden death. Tah went over the crossbar before Jose Canale beat Neuer to win it.
"Now, with a cool head, I’m going to sit down and analyze what we’ve achieved," said Gill, whose next match will be on Saturday in Philadelphia against France or Sweden. "We managed to hold on until the 120th minute, and luck was on our side during the shootout."
For Germany, the loss continues a streak of disappointment that now includes elimination in the group stage of the last two World Cups and one in the Round of 32. It has not won a knockout game since the 2014 final.
"You talk about expectations: It is 11 or 12 years and we have come up short," Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. "It’s not enough for German football."
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri said the team was filled with good young players — reason to be optimistic for the future.
"But in the moment to think about the future is, I think, the wrong decision," Amiri said. "I feel for everybody, very sad. It was a shocking end from the game. At the moment, it’s very difficult to find the right words."
FULL PENALTIES ⚽️ Germany vs Paraguay 2026 FIFA World Cup™ Round of 32
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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