Nelson Haedo Valdez - International Career

International Career

Having not been selected for Paraguay's Under-23 squad for the 2004 Summer Olympics, Valdez was part of the Paraguay 22 man squad at the 2004 Copa América in Peru. Playing in two of Paraguay's three group stage games as Paraguay finished in first place and were drawn against Uruguay in the quarter-finals. Valdez played in the quarter-final which Paraguay lost 3–1. Valdez scored his first goal for Paraguay in a game against El Salvador on 17 August 2005. During the 2006 FIFA World cup qualification campaign Valdez scored after 64 minutes in a 1–0 away win against Venezuela on 8 October 2005. Paraguay finished fourth with 28 points as Valdez was selected for the final 23 man squad for the tournament where he was handed the number 18 shirt. Valdez was not included in Paraguay's squad for the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela, however, a few months later he took part in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, he opened his goal scoring account in round two of the qualifiers scoring in a 1–0 win against Uruguay on 7 October 2007. Paraguay were undefeated until round six where they had lost 4–2 against Bolivia in La Paz, Valdez scored his third goal of the qualifiers. On 9 September 2009, in Asunción in round 16 of the qualifiers Haedo Valdez scored after 27 minutes of the first half to give Paraguay a 1–0 lead against Argentina, who were coached by Diego Maradona at the time, Paraguay won the game 1–0 and qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Paraguay finished the campaign in third spot, behind Brazil and Chile, with 33 points as Valdez had scored five times in 17 appearances.