The Argentina everyone was hoping to see finally showed up as La Albiceleste put on a display of some scintillating attacking football to completely dominate Paraguay as they registered a 6-1 win. They will now face Chile in the final of the 2015 Copa America.
Argentina got off to a great start as they scored in the 15th minute through Marcos Rojo, who calmly finished past Villar in the Paraguay goal after a set-piece came through to him. They soon doubled their lead as Javier Pastore scored after some great work from Lionel Messi.
Paraguay pulled one goal back right before the half-time interval, as Lucas Barrios took advantage of some indecisive defending from Argentina to smash home, leaving Romero with no chance.
The second half though was all Argentina, as they ripped Paraguay apart with some sensational one-two play, scintillating dribbling and clinical finishing. Messi was at the centre of it all, as he ended the game with 3 assists. The goalscorers in the second half were Angel Di Maria, who grabbed a brace, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain.
Angel Di Maria and Javier Pastore too had great games, with the former scoring two goals, while the latter provided one assist and scored one goal.
Paraguay might have been thrashed here, but they still have something to play for as they take on Peru in the 3rd place play-off. The Argentinians however, will march into the final against the hosts full of confidence, after they finally broke the shackles to unleash some breathtaking football.
Here are the highlights –