Paraguay beat Brazil on penalties to reach Copa América semi-finals

Despite Brazil’s lacklustre form in the tournament, Paraguay’s victory on penalties in the last eight still stands as the shock of the tournament so far – particularly given the manner in which the South American minnows saw off their illustrious rivals for the second Copa América in a row to advance to a semi-final against Argentina on Tuesday.

It was the first time since 1953 that Brazil have lost to their South American neighbours after taking the lead. Paraguay had scored in only three of the last nine matches they had played against them. There were dreadful misses in the shootout from Everton Ribeiro and Douglas Costa, leaving Derlis González to score the penalty that sent Paraguay through.

 Without the injured Neymar and not looking particularly impressive, Brazil took the lead through the former Manchester City striker Robinho midway through the first half. The ball was worked down the right wing and when the cross came in from Dani Alves, Roberto Firmino flicked the ball on to Robinho, who prodded it into the corner.

It turned out to be the only time a Brazil player touched the ball in the opposing penalty area in the first half. But Paraguay were always in the game and enjoyed plenty of possession without creating many clearcut chances before the break.

When play restarted, a surging run from Willian down the right was brought to a shuddering halt by Pablo César Aguilar, who was lucky not to be shown the yellow card. Twenty minutes before the end, Paraguay got the break they needed when Thiago Silva was rightly adjudged to have handled in the box as he challenged Roque Santa Cruz for a header.

González stepped up to stroke the penalty home and put Paraguay level. That left the teams heading for shootout and Brazil, who have been below form throughout the tournament, never looked like winning it.

Fernandinho scored the first penalty for Brazil but it was all downhill from there, with Ribeiro missing the target altogether, and Costa skying the ball into the crowd.

The guardian

Maher Taki