After 46 minutes of some interesting football, it's halftime in the Copa America quarterfinal match between Brazil and Paraguay, and it remains scoreless despite Brazil more or less totally dominating the game. Paraguay's lone effort in the vague direction of Julio Cesar's goal was a scudding attempt from Marcelo Estigarribia that went about as far wide as it was shot from - and the tricky winger was at least 35 yards from goal when he tried it.
Copa America 2011 Quarterfinals, Brazil Vs. Paraguay: 0-0 At Halftime Despite Brazilian Dominance
Brazil, meanwhile, have had several good chances. Neymar has missed twice when he might have scored, and Justo Villar had to perform a heroic sacrifice of the body to keep a close-range shot from centre half Lucio from rippling the back of the net. That said, Brazil haven't been quite as good as they could have been - the Paraguayan defence is working very hard to deny the favourites the time and space they need to play.
When Brazil have been kept off the scoreboard for a full half and their best chance came off a set piece, you know you’re doing something right. That front line of Neymar, Alexandre Pato and Robinho could go through most teams like butter, and it’s a credit to Paraguay that they haven’t.
The pitch at the 53,000-seat Ciudad de La Plata, meanwhile, is playing merry havoc with the game. Players are going down left and right as they’re trying to navigate the heavily-watered turf, and unless they’re taking diving to hitherto unexplored levels of hilarity, I don’t think they’re doing that on purpose. One would think that a poor pitch would benefit Paraguay more than Brazil, but right now the underdogs are barely getting a sniff of the ball.
Overall, despite Brazil’s dominance, I can’t imagine that they’re that happy with the way things are going. The longer things go on at 0-0, the better chance Paraguay have to snatch a result. They need a goal, and they know it.
For live updates throughout the Copa America quarterfinal between Brazil and Paraguay, stay on the Brazil vs. Paraguay StoryStream. Also taking place right now is the Women’s World Cup Final between the USA and Japan, so head over to our World Cup Final StoryStream for updates on that. For all kinds of coverage on world football, check out SB Nation Soccer.
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