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Antolin Alcaraz is the only member of the Everton squad to have played in a World Cup quarter-final.



That alone means little, admittedly.



Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka were not part of Fabio Capello's England squad in South Africa.



Gareth Barry , who was included and started three games, crashed out in the last 16 regardless.



Sylvain Distin has never played for France – a baffling omission, even in recent years, given Adil Rami and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa have been afforded an opportunity.



Seamus Coleman was two-years-old the last time Ireland reached the last eight, Tim Howard was not quite ready for the United States in 2002, and Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas will have to wait until this summer to earn such distinction with Belgium.



But Alcaraz was a stand-out performer for Paraguay in their run to the last eight in 2010, playing four of the five games.



The South Americans, managed by current Barcelona manager Tata Martino, conceded just two goals before losing narrowly to Spain.



Many would even say he was one of the best defenders in the tournament.

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Alcaraz had already agreed a deal to move from Club Brugge to Wigan Athletic prior to the World Cup, with Latics manager Roberto Martinez proving prophetic in his comments.



“I think everyone will realise what a quality player he is when we see him at the World Cup for Paraguay,” he said. “[He] is looking forward to adding to his international and European experience, as well as playing for his country in the World Cup.”



The key word used by Martinez in 2010 was experience.



It is experience that prompted Martinez to bring Alcaraz with him to Goodison Park.



And it is experience that makes the Blues boss relieved to have him fully fit with the FA Cup and Champions League qualification still to play for.



Sometimes, experience is wrongly attributed to age, but the correlation between the two is not always present.



Alcaraz is only 31, but he has experience of playing on two continents, in the Europa League, and under managerial stalwarts such as Ossie Ardiles, Christoph Daum, and the aforementioned Martino.



He also has experience of playing under Martinez at the DW Stadium.



The Blues' transition into Martinez's style has been far smoother than imagined – testament to that comes in how they still fight on two fronts in mid-February.



But a little extra help from Alcaraz could go a long way, especially as the season nears its end.



Evertonians have not had much opportunity to see Alcaraz, with the Paraguayan making just three league appearances and a cup start against Queens Park Rangers.



He was excellent against Southampton, and solid against Stoke, before suffering fatigue in the Merseyside derby.



With 12 games remaining, and cup hopes still alive, his return is very much welcome for Everton.



It is not just because of his performances under Martinez - although they do show his capability of playing the style of football the manager extols.



He is a defender who can play on the front foot, is comfortable in possession, and has shown ability to play 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 4-1-4-1.



In his last season at Wigan, he won 92% of his tackles and 58% of his aerial battles.



He only made 10 league appearances in that campaign – something that can be attributed to Wigan's relegation, particularly given they conceded 1.4 goals per game with him in the team and two goals per game without him.



In his past two seasons, he was ranked in the top 10 defenders for interceptions; he was also noticed for the number of tackles made, his tackle success, and recovering possession.



That, of course, is all positive for the Blues.



But Alcaraz's influence could also be crucial off the field.



The Blues' squad possesses a nice mix of youth and experience, of exuberance and wisdom.



Players like Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu , Ross Barkley and James McCarthy can only benefit from the nous of more seasoned members of the squad.



And even if Alcaraz is only to provide back-up Jagielka and Distin, a chance to rest their legs for 90 minutes, his influence could be crucial now fit and ready to play once more.



Alcaraz has done more than most in the Everton squad, but most crucially, he has won under Martinez and won the FA Cup, albeit not part of the final squad through injury.



The Blues will hope he can replicate a little more of that for the rest of the season.

More Everton FC news

Roberto Martinez believes Antolin Alcaraz is finally over his injury hell at Goodison Park, while Martinez is also delighted with the Blues U18s reaching the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals.