Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz was full of praise for his team after they defeated Brazil on penalties in the quarterfinals to remain unbeaten in the Copa America.
Paraguay held Argentina and Uruguay to draws in the group stage to go with a win over Jamaica, and eliminated Brazil at the quarterfinal stage for the second straight tournament by winning 4-3 on penalties after the 90 minutes ended 1-1.
"We have played Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil -- and none of them have been able to beat us," Diaz said.
"You have to have a lot of respect for this team. The players have shown the fans just what they are capable of doing."
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Paraguay were handed a lifeline when Thiago Silva was whistled for handling the ball in the box, and Derlis Gonzalez scored the resulting penalty.
But even if their goal had a touch of fortune about it, Diaz said he was pleased with how his side pushed Brazil to the end.
"We are very happy with the game we played," Díaz said. "It's a great satisfaction.
"At the end of the match we looked to push Brazil back with the changes that we made and we could have scored another goal. Both teams were trying to score; it was exciting and we were lucky enough to go through."
Paraguay now face another game against Argentina after the two sides played out a 2-2 draw in their opening group-stage match.
Diaz, a former coach at River Plate, called Argentina "the best national team in the world."
"We know them well and there won't be much time to enjoy this special moment."