Team Focus: Argentina Must Be Wary of Pragmatic Paraguay's Resilience

It wasn’t so much a match summation from Paraguay’s Osvaldo Martinez, as a mission statement.

After his team had so deservedly eliminated Brazil from the quarter-finals of this Copa America, the midfielder attempted to describe how they’d done it, only to assert their defining quality. It is a trait that may yet see them go even further, potentially to a second successive final, and one that semi-final opponents Argentina will already be wary of.

“It’s what this squad of players has,” Martinez said. “They never buckle. They never surrender. We might not be the best team team in this tournament, but we can endure so much.”

That’s saying something. The stats say even more. Paraguay have conceded the first goal in six of their last seven games, and only lost one of those matches.

Brazil were just the latest team to succumb to their supreme resilience, Argentina are already more familiar with it than most.

Gerardo Martino’s side didn’t just see Paraguay haul them back in the opening match of their campaign, but actually surrendered a two-goal lead. Given that most teams would be so fearful of what that Argentine attack can do in the open space of a break, it was a particularly brilliant and brave feat for the Paraguayan’s to claim a 2-2 draw.

It set them up for this Copa, and set a tone for it too.

Argentina will know that, until the final whistle, no lead will be safe. They are facing perhaps the most resilient team in the competition.

As to why that is, Paraguay do have all the usual qualities of an upwardly mobile mid-tier team. It might be a cliche to call them the Stoke City of this Copa, but they do possess many of the same traits.

Most notably, there is their strength in the air, where they are - literally - head and shoulders above everyone else.

Paraguay have won 24.3 aerial duels per game, which is by far the highest in the competition. Argentina, by contrast, are fifth with 17.3. Good as Nicolas Otamendi and Ezequiel Garay are in the air, there may be opportunity for Ramon Diaz’s side there.

That is not just down to their more functional or hulking players either, or indeed mean they are only combative at set-pieces - although they have scored more from set-plays than anyone else here, too, with two.

Five-foot-10-inch forward Nelson Valdez wins 4.5 aerial battles per game, which is the fourth highest in the Copa.

Paraguay do initially look to hit it long, but thereafter offer incision, not least through Derlis Gonzalez. He may have played the second highest number of crosses in Chile, with 2 per game, but has also played the second highest number of key passes - at 3 per game.

That variation is something Argentina are going to have to be wary of. Paraguay will battle hard, before looking to switch between swift passes through and sledge-hammer crosses.

It may be relatively unsophisticated, but it has ensured a distinctive durability.

“We are getting people to respect us again,” Valdez said on the eve of the semi-final in Concepcion. “We are among the top four in South America and we want more.”

Valdez stressed they don’t want to go behind, for once, but that seems less of a problem for Paraguay than anyone else.

Argentina may need to finally explode. Otherwise, this tie is always going to be in the balance.

Can Paraguay upset the odds to reach a second successive Copa America final? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below