Costa Rica, Paraguay fight to goalless draw in chippy Copa America clash
Paraguay played out a 0-0 draw in a feisty Copa America clash against Costa Rica in Florida.
A Group A game of few chances was book-ended by a yellow card after just 15 seconds for Costa Rica's Yeltsin Tejeda and a red card for his team-mate Kendall Waston in added time.
Jorge Benitez, who also picked up a booking early on, sliced a shot wide on 15 minutes and that was the closest Paraguay came to opening the scoring in the first half.
Ramon Diaz's side looked the more likely to break the deadlock, but they had to wait until 71 minutes for their next chance which fell to Nelson Valdez.
The former Borussia Dortmund striker got a touch on a cross from the right, but Patrick Pemberton got down to his right to prevent the ball nestling into the far corner.
Costa Rica left it late to muster their best attempt, with Christian Bolanos' long-range strike pushed away, unconvincingly, by Justo Villar on 89 minutes before Waston was sent off for a lunge on Valdez.
Next up for Paraguay is Colombia on Tuesday, while Costa Rica will lock horns with tournament hosts the United States.
