Argentina’s Barcelona superstar is now sidelined with a knee injury and is expected to be out of action for around eight weeks – a blow for both his club and country.
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Talisman and captain Lionel Messi would have already been ruled out with the same muscle problem that saw him miss the Bolivia match, but add to that the fact that strike partner Sergio Aguero will also be missing will come as an added problem for Argentina coach Gerardo Martino.
Adding to their woes, Lazio midfielder Lucas Biglia withdrew with a thigh strain and Ezequiel Garay has left the squad to be with his expectant wife.
In the 58th minute, Paulo Dybala looked set to replace Tevez, who’d just been bandaged up by medics following an elbow to his face, but the Boca Juniors striker insisted he was fine to play on, forcing the Juventus youngster to wait a little while longer to get on to the pitch.
All 10 South American teams play each other home and away with the top four qualifying automatically and the fifth-placed team going into a play off. What is worrying is the defeat to Ecuador.
“We didn’t start our qualifiers on the right foot but we have another chance on Tuesday”, Argentina forward Tevez said to Ole.com.ar. “The match is very important”, Martino continued.
“We lacked attitude on Thursday and that is something we spoke about”.
It’s still early days in the race to qualify, but with Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and traditional powerhouses Brazil all likely to contest the four automatic places with Argentina, it’s crucial they don’t lose early ground to their rivals.
The Paraguayans may have failed to beat Argentina in any of their last five meetings with El Albiceleste and will have fresh memories of the 6-1 defeat that they suffered during the Copa America in June.
Having lost to Ecuador in their opening qualifier last week, Martino knows it’s vital to grab all three points on offer against Paraguay on Tuesday.
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But the rain eased in the second half and Miller Bolanos got the first goal in the 81 minute when he played a one-two with Juan Cazares and skilfully slipped the ball under the advancing goalkeeper.
