Brazil vs. Paraguay: Winners and Losers from Copa America Quarter-Final
Brazil and Paraguay played out the last quarter-final of the 2015 Copa America in Concepcion, Chile, on Saturday night, with a 1-1 draw meaning a penalty shoot-out was required—and Paraguay won 4-3 to go through to face Argentina in the semi-finals.
Brazil started well and almost scored inside a minute through Philippe Coutinho, but it only took another 15 minutes for Robinho to go one better and hit the first goal. However, Paraguay came back into the match and got stronger after the break. La Albirroja deserved their equaliser, which came from the penalty spot after Thiago Silva handballed with 20 minutes left. Derlis Gonzalez netted the spot-kick to force an eventual shoot-out.
Here are all our biggest winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Brazil's Left Side
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From the very first instances of the game and for much of the 90 minutes when Brazil took it upon themselves to actually attack, it was always their left side which caused Paraguay most problems.
The overlapping of Filipe Luis and the trickery and free movement by Philippe Coutinho saw good interplay for the side in yellow, causing spaces to open up elsewhere at times as Paraguay were forced to drag extra players over.
On the occasions that Robinho also got involved in the channels, there was a real feeling that the Brazilians would create chances, though overall it was rather more laboured than they would have liked. That said, there was plenty to admire from time to time about that Brazilian left side.
Loser: A Lack of Firepower and Creativity
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Both teams looked more threatening on the counter-attack than in build-up phases of play, as the two sides made the most of spaces and pace rather than vision and invention in the final third.
For Paraguay, Nelson Valdez struggled to make much impact and Roque Santa Cruz won flick-ons but managed little else of note. At the opposite end, Robinho barely touched the ball after scoring the opener and Roberto Firmino had no supply line, and he failed to create chances for himself.
Though the game was exciting to watch in an end-to-end capacity at times for the neutral, there was a disappointing lack of quality on show in the final third.
Winner: Derlis Gonzalez's Second-Half Showing
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Basel winger Derlis Gonzalez is Paraguay's best young talent. He is the hope for the future and the cornerstone around which the team can be built around over the coming qualifying campaigns—but he was totally anonymous in the first half against Brazil.
He operated in a more free role after the break, and he immediately became more involved. From then on, Brazil struggled to cope with his pace, infield or down the flanks, and he created a few chances both from those driving dribbles and from his set piece delivery.
The penalty he dispatched in the second half was composed and clinical—and that goes double for his match-winning spot-kick with the last effort of the shoot-out.
Loser: Dunga's Changes and Match Mentality
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It's the same old criticism leveled against the Brazil coach: His team wasn't good enough on the ball, wasn't creative or inventive enough, and didn't take the game to an opponent considered much weaker.
Despite a fast start and an early goal, Brazil never really looked in control of the match when in front. Dunga's men struggled to stop Paraguay from having concerted pressure, failing to keep possession for any great length of time. And they hardly looked capable of creating meaningful attacking chances.
His substitutions caused annoyance to fans on social media, as he replaced Robinho with Everton Ribeiro minutes before the end as well as hauling Willian off earlier on. It didn't help that Ribeiro missed a poor spot-kick, of course, but Dunga just didn't have enough in his team to go on and win against a fairly standard opponent, let alone go close to challenging for the Copa.
Winner: Argentina, Who Look Better Equipped to Win the Semis
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The big winners of this match are easily Argentina, who awaited the outcome of this game to know their semi-final opponent.
Despite not scoring against Colombia in their own quarter-final match, Argentina played fast football and created a lot of chances to score. They were denied only by a stand-out game from 'keeper David Ospina and some wayward finishing of their own.
They will now fancy their chances of progressing to the final, especially at the expense of Paraguay. And while Brazil are the obvious losers for a tame performance on the night, it will be their great rivals who think they have come out on top the most from this quarter-final result.
