Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz says Chile have “no chance” if Lionel Messi and his Argentina team mates are at their best in Saturday’s Copa America final.
Lionel Messi produced a scintillating individual performance as Argentina destroyed Paraguay 6-1 in the semi final of the Copa America on Tuesday.
The FC Barcelona man tormented Paraguay mercilessly as the favorites produced their best display so far of the Copa America and advanced to a showdown with Chile in Saturdaya s final.
Although Messi failed to end his run of more than 900 minutes without an international goal from open play, he turned creator with three assists and had further hand in two other goals.
Goals from Angel Di Maria (2), Marcos Rojo, Javier Pastore, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain completed an emphatic rout for the South American giants.
The Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz claims that hosts Chile will be in for a tough night if Argentina reproduce their best form in the Copa America final.
“If Argentina play that way, like they did against us, Chile have no chance,” Diaz said at a press conference on Thursday.
“Given the quality of their players and the time they have been working together, I think the result will be very favourable for the Argentine national team.”
He added: “They are the best team in the world. With respect to Chile, Argentina have played better than anyone else in this knockout phase. We will see what the reality is on Saturday, but this Argentina team is one of the best sides I have seen in a long time.”
Paraguay face fellow semi-final losers Peru in the third-place play-off in Concepcion on Friday, but have already left a more significant impression than in the 2014 World Cup.
After coming last in qualifying for the tournament in Brazil, Paraguay decided to install the Argentine Ramon Diaz as the manager and he has not disappointed, overseeing a dramatic improvement during the Copa America.
“The objectives for this Copa America were to get the group believing in themselves again, for them to have order and for them to be an organised national team in every sense. So we are very satisfied,” he said.
“To face Argentina, Uruguay and Jamaica in the group was always going to be very hard, but we showed we could go out and compete with anyone.”
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The third-place decider kicks offon Friday, with the final following on Saturday.