- by Cole O'Brien, writing from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
It seemed that Brazil would have an easy game after the opening minutes as not only did they keep a tremendous amount of possession, but the game turned controversial as soon as Barrrios received a knock to the chin with no card being produced to Lucio. Minutes later Ramieres took a strike wide of the post that only began a spell of bad finishes from the green and yellow.
It wasn't much longer until Brazil found a few quick breakaway's against a outmatched Paraguay defence, but once again shots went far a wide, and although Villar was having an exceptional performance, he was not that good. Of course come after the game the Brazilian players would come to blame that quality of the pitch on these poor shots, yet they seemed to have no problems with it when their shots were on target.
A little over twenty minutes in Brazil's fans were starting to become fed up as they seemed to be urging on their players to score after they failed to net one after another convincing looking counter attack. It was a very timid start to the game as only 8 days earlier both teams had given up two goals to each other in the group stage of the tournament.
At half time Brazil were the only team to have found any real chances on goal, although failing to finish. It was expected that Brazil would come back into the half full of energy after a rather drab first half, and would easily find a few goals as they were looking to avoid extra time and penalties.
Yet come the second half the performance by Brazil was horrible for the crowd to watch. Paraguay seemed to be playing at the same level as the Brazilians. Neymar was completely cut off from play with multiple defenders marking him at all times. Yet it seemed he had finally broken away in the nineteenth minute as he timed his run perfectly to receive a pass that would lead him straight into a defender's foot.
Throughout the second half both teams had countless chances though, with Brazil having a few powerful shots with many, to the dismay of the players, rebounded off of the woodwork. Paraguay even launched a few shots and although few and far between, they had a few nice free kicks near Brazil's eighteen. Yet it was getting to be worrisome as neither team had yet conceded a goal. It was quite clear Brazil should have already had the game in the bag, and yet the score was still stuck at 0-0.
Come the seventy-fifth minute Neymar had to be helped off the field as Fred came off the bench to begin forty-five minutes of stressful play. Although it was very fair to say that Neymar never should've played after the first half and that Fred never should've ended up on the bench after already proving himself against Paraguay earlier in the group stage.
The stats told the game. By the eightieth minute Brazil had out shot Paraguay 14-1 and had won five corners while Paraguay hadn't won any. It was for anyone to answer as to why the score was still tied come the ninetieth minute.
The opening minutes of extra time was full of frustrating moments for the Brazilian side. In the ninety-sixth minute we saw Robinho make a perfect dribble down the line beating two defenders through a complicated maneuver of step overs, but his cross went to the box to find not one striker to head the ball in.
Come the hundredth minute a fight for the ball assumed. All 22 players on the field ran over to the sideline in what turned into a all out fight with many players screaming and pushing each other. It didn't take long for the referee to come over and after talks with the players and a very stressful few minutes he proceeded to give straight reds to not one, but two players in Lucas Levia and Antolin Alcaraz.
You'd think with a Paraguayan defender and fifteen minutes left on the clock that the match should open up and Brazil should easily find one of the half dozen goals in which they should already have and although we saw many bookings and chances the back of the net seemed to be the forbidden resting place of the ball.
It finally came to penalties. It was the same fate that spelled disaster for the Argentine side and Brazil, determined to best their rivals, had an even more catastrophic line of penalties. With Elano, Santos, Silva, and Fred all missing their penalties, many of them heading over the bar it was a sight that no one had ever imagined. Paraguay proceeded to net two penalties and find their way into the semi-finals.
Brazil's poor performance was not helped by the fact that many of their stars drastically under performed. We hardly saw a good moment from Neymar, and while Robinho did have a few startling blasts from the left side, he, like the rest of his team, could not find the back of the net. Of course, credit should go to the Paraguay custodian Villar, who's great performance was one of the primary reasons Brazil were stuck at zero after 120 minutes.
Brazil's Copa America campaign's primary goal was to win it's third straight Copa America after winning the previous two. Coach Mano Menezes called up a mixed squad of proven veterans and youngsters boosting with potential. This wasn't the first bad performance of the group stage though, as Brazil stumbled through the group stage with hardly convincing wins over teams that shouldn't have even bothered them.
