Peru and Paraguay meet in the first quarter-final of the 2021 CONMEBOL Copa America, with the winners taking on either Brazil or Chile, who face off in the second last-eight match, for a place in the final. Talks of final at this stage are two premature or even presumptuous considering the task at hand, for all the sides. (More Football News)
While Peru finished second in Group B behind defending champions and hosts Brazil with two wins and one draw and defeat each, Paraguay were third in Group A, behind Argentina and Uruguay. They won two and lost two.
The last time either of these two sides won South America's continental football tournament was way back in the '70s. Peru were champions in1939 and 1975, while Paraguay lifted the trophy in 1953 and 1979. Then, Peru came close to winning it for the third time in 2019, losing to Brazil in the final. Paraguay last qualified for the final in 2011, losing to Uruguay.
Head-to-head: Peru have only lost one of the last four games against Paraguay in Copa America (W1, D2), after being defeated in the previous four in a row. But Peru have not lost in the last seven games against Paraguay in all competitions (W6, 1D). The last Paraguayan victory was in November 2014 for 2-1 in a friendly match.
Match and telecast details
Match: Copa America 2021, 1st quarter-final match Peru and Paraguay
Date: July 3 (Saturday), 2021
Time: 2:30 AM IST
Venue: Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiania, Brazil
TV Channels: Sony Sports Network
Live Streaming: SonyLIV, Jio TV
Likely XIs
Peru: Pedro Gallese; Miguel Trauco, Luis Abram, Miguel Araujo, Aldo Corzo; Yoshimar Yotun, Renato Tapia; Christian Cueva, Sergio Pena, Andre Carillo; Gianluca Lapadula.
Paraguay: Antony Silva; Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso, Robert Rojas, Alberto Espinola; Oscar Romero, Mathias Vilasanti, Gaston Gimenez, Braian Samudio; Miguel Almiron, Oscar Romero.
Squads
Peru: GK - Pedro Gallese, Carlos Caceda, Jose Carvallo; DF - Luis Abram, Aldo Corzo, Anderson Santamaria, Miguel Araujo, Miguel Trauco, Christian Ramos, Marcos Lopez, Alexander Callens, Renzo Garces, Jhilmar Lora; MF - Martin Tavara, Sergio Pena, Sergio Pena, Renato Tapia, Wilder Cartagena, Yoshimar Yotun, Alexis Arias, Raziel Garcia; FW - Gianluca Lapadula, Alex Valera, Luis Iberico, Andre Carrillo, Santiago Ormeno
Head coach: Ricardo Gareca
Paraguay: GK - Antony Silva, Alfredo Aguilar, Gerardo Ortiz; DF - Robert Rojas, Omar Alderete, Fabian Balbuena, Junior Alonso, Alberto Espinola, Gustavo Gomez, Santiago Arzamendia, David Martinez; MF - Gaston Gimenez, Richard Sanchez, Miguel Almiron, Andres Cubas, Angel Cardozo, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Oscar Romero, Mathias Villasanti, Braian Ojeda, Robert Piris Da Motta, Jorge Morel; FW - Carlos González, Gabriel Avalos, Angel Romero, Braian Samudio, Antonio Bareiro, Julio Enciso.
Head coach: Eduardo Berizzo
Key stats
Paraguay conceded less than one goal on average per game in the last seven Copa America games (W2, D2, L3) with five goals conceded in seven games, 0.7 on average).
The Paraguayans have not conceded more than two goals in the competition since June 2015 (1-6 vs Argentina).
Paraguay's Junior Alonso is the player with the most successful passes so far in Copa America (256).
