The first 120 minutes of Tuesday’s game are being described by most of the things I’ve read in English as “boring” or “tactical” (read: boring). What followed was certainly not. I assure you too that those first 2 hours were anything but boring in these parts – unless boring has the same feeling as I imagine impending cardiac arrest has or the feeling of being throw from a plane and having your chute jamb only to have your spare open and fill with a great swoosh of air five feet before your feet hit the ground.

For those of you who missed it, or got tired of looking at zero-zero for the first two halves and then both halves of extended play – Paraguay defeated Japan, 5-3 in the first shoot out of the 2010 World Cup. With this they advance, for the first time in the teams history, to the quarter finals. I’d been meaning to report on this sooner, but have been waiting for the gunfire to calm down so I can process my thoughts.

Paraguay now finds itself as one of the four South American teams remaining out of the final eight and amongst the likes of Brazil, Holland, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain and Ghana. On Saturday PY will face off against Spain at 2:30 pm eastern on ABC. The excitement for the game is palpable, everyone’s house, moto, or car is sporting a flag. Jersey’s are for sale on every street corner and I’m sure bullet sales are probably up too… (Even “Waka Waka” is starting to be suck in everyone’s head)

If it’s at all like Tuesday’s game we’re all in for a treat.