Sunderland defender Omar Alderete has suffered an injury while on international duty

Omar Alderete is emerging as a serious doubt for Paraguay’s clash against Germany on Monday night.

Alderete suffered a knee injury during Paraguay’s 0-0 draw with Australia last week, a result which booked his nation’s place in the last 32 of the World Cup and completed a remarkable turnaround from a heavy defeat to the USA in their opening fixture of the tournament.

The good news for Alderete, Paraguay and Sunderland is that reporters with the national team say that scans appear to have ruled out any significant damage to the knee. However, the muscle strain continues to cause problems for the 29-year-old who trained separately from the main group in their final session before facing Germany.

Head coach Gustavo Alfaro was quoted in his press conference ahead of the game saying: “We’ll test Omar tomorrow.

“He’s still in pain. Although they did the tests, he’s okay but in a lot of pain. There isn’t much time to get him back in shape. So we’re going to wait until the last minute .”

Paraguay’s clash with Germany kicks off at 9.30pm UK time, and will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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When the rest of Sunderland’s World Cup cohort are in action

It has been a hugely successful World Cup for Sunderland’s cohort so far, with Wilson Isidor the only player to exit after the group stages. The Sunderland striker signed off in style, scoring a superb long-range goal in Haiti’s final group game against Morocco.

Chemsdine Talbi’s Morocco face Netherlands and Sunderland trio Brian Brobbey, Lutsharel Geertruida and Robin Roefs overnight on Monday (2pm KO UK time). Simon Adingra’s Ivory Coast face Norway on Tuesday evening (6pm KO UK time), before Nilson Angulo’s Ecuador face Mexico in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The winner of that tie will face either England or DR Congo, with Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku in action against Thomas Tuchel’s side on Wednesday evening (5pm KO). Habib Diarra is set to be involved as Senegal face Belgium on Wednesday night (9pm KO) before Granit Xhaka concludes Sunderland’s involvement in the group stages when Switzerland face Algeria in the early hours of Friday morning.

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