Copa America Preview: Argentina – Paraguay

The second semi-final of the Copa América, which will decide about Chile’s opposing side in the final, is due today.

Chile have won the first semi-final of the tournament in a thrilling clash against Peru. The Peruvian side played with only 10 men from the 20th minute thanks to Zambrano’s red card. Vargas scored twice which put his team in the final.

• Both teams qualified on penalty shootouts
• Argentina are favourites
• Paraguay aim to cause another major surprise

Now title-favourites Argentina will have to face the same against Paraguay in the next semi-final. The match will take place in Concepción, in the Estadio Municipal de Concepción, on 31 June, 1:30 AM (Central European Time).

Argentina eliminated Colombia in the quarter-final

The previous opponent of the Albiceleste was a great rival who was expected to be among the best teams in the tournament. However, Colombia was rather disappointing at Copa América and did not manage to put the same performances in the continental tournament as they have done in the World Cup.

The game between the two favourites was promising and was expected to be a thrilling encounter between two teams, according to Chilean gambling news. An attractive spectacle was expected and an attacking style of football from both sides as they are famous for their world class attacking midfielders and strikers. Some of the influential names are Bacca and James for Colombia while for Argentina the big players are Messi and Di Maria.

The match was rather disappointing from this sense. The Colombian side did not really try building up their attacks. They decided to ‘park the bus’ and defend as much as possible against the likes of Messi and Agüero. They had only 2 shots during the 90 minutes, and only 1 of those two shots was on goal.

Meanwhile Argentina tried to break the Colombian defensive wall and had created some great chances, but failed to score a single goal. They were close on several occasions, but Ospina showed incredible skills. The game finished with 0-0 and Argentina qualified for the semi-final in a thrilling penalty shout-out which lasted for 7 rounds.

Paraguay knocked out Brazil

In the other quarter-final, Paraguay’s opponent was going to be the Brazilian national team, which was among the biggest favourites for winning the tournament. Everyone believed that Brazil will have an easy task eliminating the Paraguayian side, who are lacking top quality players.

Indeed, Roque Santa Cruz and Claudio Pizarro are their biggest stars, however they are not in their peek any longer. Paraguay on the other hand plays as a disciplined team which is one of the most important factors in football. They were focused 100% on the match and their concentration paid off.

According to the reports of online gambling sites in Paraguay, the national team proved themselves to be a better team than the Brazilian side. The match started in a way which suggested that the predictions might be true and Brazil might qualify easily, thanks to the first goal of the game which was scored already in the 15th minute by Robinho.

However, the Paraguayan side did not give up as they kept fighting until they scored a goal. Paraguay were given a penalty in the 72th minute and Derlis González scored from the penalty spot. The game ended with 1-1, so the qualification was decided in a penalty shootout, just like the Argentina – Colombia clash. Los Guaranies were better by scoring 4 out of their 5 penalties, while Brazil only scored 3.

Paraguay aim for another surprise

Online sportsbooks in Argentina believe that the likes of Messi, Aguero, Di Maria and the other great stars will be enough for the team to reach the final of the Copa America. It was enough to get until the semi-final, but now it will be a whole new level as they will have to face a disciplined team like Paraguay.

The team led by Ramon Diaz are still regarded as underdogs, according to the odds set by Bet365, for example. The popular online bookmaker has set the odds for Argentina defeating Paraguay in 90 minutes at 1.44 (4/9), which means that they are pretty much clear favorites for the upcoming encounter.

However, Paraguay is expected to fight until the very last second of the game as they aim to play the final of the Copa America for the 9th time. Gaming news report that they have lost 6 of their previous finals, but they also won the tournament twice. They are the current runner-up as they lost to Uruguay in the final in 2011.

Paraguay’s victory over Tata Martino’s men would pay 9.5 (17/2) times the stake, which means they are still not regarded as a serious challenger for the title, even though the fact that they have already defeated one of the biggest candidates. They are ready to destroy the Argentinian dream of clinching the trophy.