Player Profile

The skilful left-back has taken a surprisingly long time to establish himself with Paraguay, given he has been a regular for Boca Juniors for the last six seasons.

His father, Eugenio Morel, was a key part of the Paraguayan side that won the 1979 Copa America.

Though Claudio was born in Paraguay, he was brought up in Argentina and has spent his entire career there. As a result, some perhaps doubted his commitment to the Albirroja shirt. He has been a regular for Paraguay since Gerardo Martino, himself Argentine, took over as coach in 2007.

An excellent crosser of the ball, Morel has also played centre-back in the past, but at just 5ft 9in tall, he would only do so in South Africa as an emergency measure.

He missed half of the qualifiers through injury and his absence was felt - four of Paraguay’s five defeats came without Morel. The exception was the loss in Bolivia, a game played at altitude.

He helped Boca win the Copa Libertadores in 2007. Later that year he played in the 4-2 defeat by AC Milan in the Fifa Club World Cup final, and was named runner-up as South American Player of the Year behind Paraguayan team-mate Salvador Cabañas. He began his career at San Lorenzo, switching to Boca in 2004. He won league titles with both clubs.