Paraguay came from two goals down to claim a a share of the spoils from a late 2-2 draw in their Copa America’s Group B opener against Argentina in La Serena on Saturday.
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Argentina went 2-0 up thanks to first-half goals from Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi but their opponents struck back through Nelson Haedo Valdez and Luca Barrios for a point at Estadio La Portada.
The result leaves Argentina second in the group standings, with Paraguay below them level with one point after Cristian Rodriguez handed leaders Uruguay a 1-0 triumph against Jamaica in the other Group B clash.
Argentina started brightest and controlled the pace of the match in the opening exchanges.
They took the lead on the half-hour mark as Manchester City striker Aguero broke the deadlock as he intercepted a soft pass back from Paraguay’s Miguel Samudio to his goalkeeper Antony Silva and netted his side’s opening goal of the tournament.
Football: #Paraguay fightback stuns #Argentina at #CopaAmerica http://t.co/WmjAH3FPyD pic.twitter.com/qlhsDDJyMh
— The Straits Times (@STcom) June 14, 2015
Five minutes late, Miguel Samudio brought down Angel Di Maria in the box and Barcelona striker Messi doubled Argentina’s advantage from the penalty spot to hand them a 2-0 lead at the break.
Paraguay forward Valdez finished off a great shot with the Albirroja’s first goal of the match from outside the box to reduce the deficit near the hour mark, while Luca Barrios equalised with a strong volley at the death.
Paulo Da Silva defender believes his country deserved the late draw as he said: “We suffered a lot. During the first half we let them play and that was a mistake.
“We managed to give our best then and we deserve this result.”
