Sold everything for his baby! Paraguay star's own fairy tale | OneFootball

Against Germany, Paraguay’s goalkeeper was named Player of the Match. Orlando Gill saved two crucial penalties against Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade. His joy after the final whistle was all the greater.

“Of course, we analyzed every player and every detail about the penalty takers. Thank God I was able to save two penalties. It’s an honor; we knocked out a champion. This victory is dedicated to all Paraguayans,” he said after the match in the mixed zone.

“Today it became clear that Paraguay is capable of great things and that we should not back down in front of the whole world,” he also declared ahead of the round of 16, whose opponent (either France or Sweden) will be determined today.

Gill himself probably would not have believed before the tournament that his saves would make him a World Cup hero. Until two years ago, he was still playing for CS San Lorenzo in Paraguay’s second division. Since 2025, he has been playing for the almost identically named club San Lorenzo in Argentina’s top flight, where he became the club’s number one goalkeeper.

During his time in Paraguay, however, he struggled with financial problems.

When his son was born, the family had very little money, his wife reported in an Instagram post. He had to sell all of his training gear, his goalkeeper boots, and even the Paraguay U20 jersey he had once worn with pride, just to cover the costs for his son. He also sold jerseys he had worn at his youth clubs. “Our son was fighting for his life, and his father was always there for him,” Melissa Avalos wrote in her post.

That changed when Gill was called up to the senior national team for the first time in September 2025 and made his debut in goal in the World Cup qualifier against Peru (1:0). He also played in almost all of the friendlies that followed and is now established as Paraguay’s first-choice World Cup goalkeeper. The fact that he can now focus fully on football was (unfortunately) proven against Germany.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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