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President Peña Cancels Trip to Paraguay's World Cup Match Amid 'Bad Luck' Criticism
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Sports

President Peña Cancels Trip to Paraguay's World Cup Match Amid 'Bad Luck' Criticism

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Paraguayan President Santiago Peña will not travel to the United States for the national team's match against France.
  • Peña cited criticism over "bad luck" following the team's previous loss and his decision to declare a holiday.
  • He confirmed he will watch the match from home and reiterated his gratitude to the team, regardless of the outcome.

President Santiago Peña announced he will not travel to the United States for Paraguay's World Cup match against France, despite receiving an invitation. Peña, who attended the opening match, opted to stay home after facing criticism for "bad luck" associated with his presence during the team's loss to the U.S.

I'm going to stay here, I'll watch it at home like I did the last game.

— Santiago PeñaPresident Peña confirmed his decision not to travel to the U.S. for the match against France.

"I'm going to stay here, I'll watch it at home like I did the last game," Peña stated. He confirmed he receives invitations for all matches as president but had already decided to attend the first one. The vice president attended subsequent group stage games.

The invitation always I am receiving for each of the matches as president, as I received for the first match, but I had already made the decision to go to the first and the vice president went to the next two matches of the phase (of groups).

— Santiago PeñaPresident Peña explained his attendance at previous matches and his decision-making process.

Peña had initially planned to attend the match against Germany but was unable to due to commitments, including a Mercosur summit, state visits, and a report to Congress. He did not rule out reconsidering travel if Paraguay advances to the quarterfinals.

Let's take this with enormous happiness, with humility. What I can tell you is that regardless of the result on Saturday against France, I will have the same feeling of gratitude, towards the technical staff, towards the directors of the APF, towards the players.

— Santiago PeñaPresident Peña expressed his gratitude to the team, irrespective of the match outcome.

Regarding recent holidays, Peña acknowledged that the holiday declared after the victory against Germany drew mixed reactions. While fans celebrated, some businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, questioned the decision, especially after Peña admitted to declaring it "without thinking." He confirmed no holidays would be declared for the upcoming match against France on Saturday.

I am going to receive them at the airport (the team) and the hug I will give them will be of the same tenor, of the same strength, whether they win or not tomorrow.

— Santiago PeñaPresident Peña pledged a warm welcome for the team upon their return, regardless of their performance.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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