A PENALTY miss from former Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz could not prevent Paraguay from reaching the Copa America semi finals with a shoot-out victory over Brazil.

Santa Cruz, now 33 and playing for Mexican side Cruz Azul, is Paraguay’s captain at the tournament and started up front in the quarter final clash in the Chilean city of Concepcion.

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The game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes before Everton Ribeiro and Douglas Costa missed for Brazil during the penalty shoot-out. Santa Cruz then had the chance to confirm Paraguay’s progression, only to fire his spot kick over the bar.

But Paraguay were still able to win the shoot-out 4-3, with Derlis Gonzalez converting their final penalty to set up a semi final showdown with Argentina tomorrow night.

Chile face Peru in the other semi final tonight. Former Burnley keeper Diego Penny is in Peru’s squad for the tournament, although he has yet to feature.

Paraguay, two-time Copa America winners, will be hoping to book their place in Saturday’s final in Santiago after their surprise win over Brazil.

Phillippe Coutinho tested Justo Villar with a long-range effort inside 90 seconds of Saturday night’s quarter final, but the veteran goalkeeper set himself early and punched the ball to safety.

Brazil’s hopes had been dented by Neymar’s tournament-ending ban last week but Robinho, the leading scorer when Brazil won the 2007 Copa America in