ASUNCION, May 9 - It costs $4 to sit in the main stand at the Roberto Bettega stadium in the swampy outskirts of the Paraguayan capital and insect repellent is not included in the price.

Tacuary are hosting Nacional where a paying crowd of 304 have braved the rutted track to the stadium to bring in gate receipts of 4.1 million Guaranies ($800), barely enough to pay the floodlight bill, and the mosquitoes are having a field day.

Welcome to the Paraguayan first division, where the league table reads like a list of important dates in the country's history and where, not so long ago, the federation held a vote to decide the season's champions.

Paraguay's distinctive red-and-white striped shirts have become a familiar sight at the World Cup and will be appearing at their third successive finals in Germany.

The side reached the last 16 on their last two outings and went down fighting both times, losing 1-0 to a golden goal against hosts France in 1998 and to an 89th-minute goal against Germany four years later.

The national team's performances are all the more remarkable given the situation at home.

Domestic football in the landlocked South American nation of five million people survives on a shoestring and a starker contract with the domestic league of their first World Cup opponents England is hard to imagine.

Many players earn $200 a month or less and matches are played in front of a few hundred people in stadiums reminiscent of European non-league grounds.

JUVENTUS CONNECTION

Tacuary, whose 1-0 win over Nacional took them level on points with leaders Cerro Porteno, are one of the luckier clubs.

Although the stadium is small, oddly-located and looks like a farm from a distance, the pitch is in excellent condition and the arena boasts a new, albeit tiny, main stand.

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