PARIS, May 18 (AFP)
Larger than life Paraguay captain Jose Luis Chilavert may have twice been voted best goalkeeper in the world but he is equally famous for his goals, fights and outrageous comments.
Chilavert will sit out Paraguay's first World Cup match to complete his latest ban, four matches handed down by FIFA after he spat in Roberto Carlos' face after Brazil beat Paraguay 2-0 in qualifying.
The extensive list of his clashes includes once punching an Argentine journalist who suggested he had put on weight, fighting former Argentine captain Oscar Ruggeri and Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla.
Hardly the best track record for a man who has said he wants to be President of Paraguay when he finally hangs up his boots.
The agile but volatile 'keeper was voted South American Player of the Year in 1998, world 'keeper of the year in 1995 and 1997.
And even if his goalkeeping ability has declined in recent years,
he remains a huge personality on the pitch.
His greatest international performance came four years ago at France 1998 when he conceded just two goals in four matches as Paraguay narrowly missed the quarter-finals, losing 1-0 in extra-time to France thanks to a golden goal from Laurent Blanc in their second round tie.
At 36 the 2002 World Cup will almost certainly be Chilavert's swan song. Paraguay's Group B games are in Korea where they will take on South Africa, Spain and Slovenia.
The controversial 'keeper was swift to stir up ill-feeling against the team many feel will be Paraguay's chief group rivals, though the big man himself eveidently begs to differ.
"If Spain had played in the South American qualifiers, I am sure they would not be going to the World Cup," Chilavert told a Paraguayan radio station on a recent trip there.
"It's really easy to get through if you are playing teams like Andorra, Liechenstein or Israel," he added.
Chilavert is also hoping to add to his 50-plus goals tally amassed from penalties and free kicks throughout his career. The latest coming against Bolivia in a South America group qualifying match.
If he does he'll be the first ever 'keeper to do so in a World Cup finals match.
"I'm doing more than 120 free-kicks every day," he claimed recently.
Chilavert revealed a milder side to his nature when he toured the Japanese city of Matsumoto last month to pave the way for the
Latin American country to set up their pre-World Cup base camp.
He gave a lecture to some 400 students at a junior high school in the city, telling them: "Do your best in studies and sports," and recalling his childhood when his family was too poor to afford a pair of soccer boots.
He also signed autographs, posed for pictures and coached young players in dribbling and passing at the ground reserved for the Paraguay World Cup squad.
But it was not long before controversy flared up again when newspapers in Paraguay suggested he pressured coach Cesar Maldini into excluding midfielder Julio Cesar Enciso, with whom he has not seen eye-to-eye in the past, from the Paraguay squad.
In typical fashion Chilavert made an impassioned plea to the country's budding sports journalists not to follow the example of their incompetent elders.
