It didn’t come easy for Brazil in their Thursday night quarter-final showdown against Paraguay, but the tournament favorite and host was able to advance to the next round after triumphing in a dramatic penalty shootout against Paraguay.
The Brazilians advanced to the semi-final of the South American competition after playing 98 minutes of soccer without goals. They then advanced to a penalty shoot-out, which they won by a 4-3 margin against a Paraguayan squad that gave them a harder challenge than Brazil ever could have imagined.
It was a defensive struggle during most of the evening, with Brazil generating plenty of goal opportunities but being unable to find the net against a stingy Paraguay defense. The effort by Eduardo Berizzo’s squad was even more impressive considering that they went down to 10 men after defender Fabian Balbuena was shown a red card due to an aggressive challenge.
So, after 90 minutes of regulation and 8 minutes of stoppage time, the game went to a penalty shootout. There, Brazil finally triumphed.
Brazil keeper Jasper Allison stopped the first attempt by Paraguay, giving his team an advantage. Paraguay was then able to claw back to tie the shootout at 3-3 after Roberto Firmino missed a kick, but on their next attempt, Derlis González was unable to convert.
So, Gabriel Jesus stepped up and cooly buried his shot in the 5th and final round of penalties, giving Brazil the 4-3 win.
Now, the winner of Venezuela-Argentina will await for the Brazilians in the next knockout round, with a trip to the final on the line.
