After the elimination against France, the coach avoided confirming his continuity with the Albirroja, stated that he would first talk to his family, and asked for time to decide his future
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After the 1-0 defeat against France in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, Gustavo Alfaro spoke at a press conference and left the question of his continuity as coach of Paraguay open. Although he ruled out any negotiations with other teams, he admitted that he still does not know what decision he will make regarding his professional future.
The coach shared that, as soon as the match ended, the president of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF), Robert Harrison, expressed his desire for him to continue leading the national team. "Just in the locker room Robert spoke, he says to me, professor, this was the first round, we need, I want to count on you for the second round. This is the first time we are seriously talking about this, in front of the players, in front of everyone", he recounted.
Then, Alfaro reflected on how he had been postponing the moment to end his career: "Honestly, I have been avoiding the goal for my family for 5 or 6 years, that I would retire at 60, I am already 63, I played the World Cup with Ecuador, I told them, that's it, ready, I play the World Cup, I retire. When I played the World Cup with Ecuador I thought how nice it would be to play the next World Cup and Paraguay gave me the chance to have another World Cup and I said, ready, when the Paraguay World Cup is over, that's it".
However, he acknowledged that today he does not have a definitive answer. "And well, now it is, what I want is, I don't want any speculation, there is no speculation".
It should be clarified that in another part of his conference, he explained that before defining his future he must talk to his closest family members. "I have to talk to my family. It is a family decision. It is not speculation in any way, that's why I want to clarify it", the coach clarified.
In that sense, he also made it clear that throughout the World Cup process he was completely focused on the Albirroja. "My representative was strictly prohibited from talking to anyone because I didn't want, I didn't want anything else, there was nothing else but Paraguay in my life and for me there was no other detail than finishing the World Cup", he affirmed.
Alfaro avoided giving definitions about his future
The coach stated that the blow of elimination is still too recent to make a decision. "Today I have open wounds, today I am bleeding, so today the least I can do is reason, because I am overwhelmed, reason with balance. I believe that I need and Paraguay needs the foam to settle, for that foam to settle so that what needs to settle can settle", he commented.
Finally, Alfaro reiterated the bond he has built with the country and acknowledged that, despite the uncertainty, he feels fully identified with the Paraguayan project. "I honestly don't know what I am going to do with my professional life, there is no more comfortable place in my life than Paraguay, in the place where the country opened its doors to me, the clubs opened their doors to me, the players, the relationship that took time".
