Argentina begin their quest to win a record-equalling 15th Copa America title on Saturday night when they face Paraguay at the Estadio La Portada.

The runners-up of Group B will take on the winners of Group C - likely to be Brazil - in the quarter-finals, so to avoid facing the samba nation so early in the competition, three points in this encounter is a must.

Argentina

© Getty Images

For all the talent that Argentina have been able to call upon over recent years, Argentina's success at the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador remains the last major international trophy won by La Albiceleste.

Since that triumph, they have reached two Copa America finals, both of which ended in defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Brazil, while they were also runners-up in last year's World Cup final.

Lionel Messi featured in the most recent two of those clashes, which means that despite having won virtually all there is to win in European club football (more than once as far as most competitions are concerned), he is yet to taste success with his country.

There are those that believe that until he puts that right, he cannot be considered a true great alongside his fellow countryman Diego Maradona, but if Messi is to end the drought it could well happen over the coming weeks. He scored 58 goals to help Barcelona win a trio of trophies last term, with some suggesting that he is producing his best form in recent times.

Not only is there Messi, Gerardo Martino has a host of world-class footballers at his disposal, including Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero, the latter of whom scored a hat-trick during a 5-0 win over Bolivia last weekend.

They head into the clash with Paraguay on the back of some mixed friendly results since losing to Germany in Rio de Janeiro a year ago. Defeats have been inflicted by Brazil and Portugal, but there have also been five victories, which have yielded a return of 18 goals.

Recent form: WLDDWD
Recent form (all competitions): WWLWWW

Paraguay

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After qualifying for France '98 - a tournament in which they impressed before being eliminated by the hosts in the first knockout round on the golden goal rule - it seemed that Paraguay were going to be ever-presents on the international scene.

Indeed, they qualified for the three World Cups that followed, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in their history under the management of current Argentina boss Martino in 2010.

However, following Martino's departure in 2011 after he had guided La Albirroja to second place in that year's Copa America, the national side fell away. In failing to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, they went through three managers until Ramon Diaz was handed the job of restoring some pride.

To date, the 55-year-old has taken charge of three friendly encounters, but he is still awaiting his first victory. Mexico beat Diaz's men 1-0, while draws were played out against Costa Rica and Honduras.

Time will tell, but there is a belief that Diaz is using this tournament as an experiment to see which players he should select going forward, with suggestions that his focus is more on ensuring that Paraguay book their place at the next World Cup in Russia.

Recent form: DDDDDL
Recent form (all competitions): LWLDLD

Team News

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Quite simply, Martino has an embarrassment of riches to select from.

Most managers would stick with a side that won 5-0 last time out, but with Messi and Javier Mascherano having only recently linked up with the squad because of their Champions League commitments, there could be changes.

The Barca duo are both expected to start, with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Fernando Gago likely to be the fall guys.

Carlos Tevez played against Messi and Mascherano in Berlin, but the Juventus striker will probably have to settle for a place among the substitutes.

Meanwhile, former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz, who is Paraguay's leading goalscorer of all time, will spearhead his nation's attack.

Argentina possible starting lineup:
Romero; Roncaglia, Garay, Otamendi, Rojo; Mascherano, Banega, Pastore; Di Maria, Aguero, Messi

Paraguay possible starting lineup:
Villar; M Caceres, Da Silva, Balbuena, Samudio; Valdez, Ortiz, V Caceres, Benitez, Ortigoza; Santa Cruz

Head To Head

It would be fair to say that Paraguay rarely enjoy taking on their Argentine counterparts.

Of the 103 meetings between the two sides, the Paraguayans have tasted victory on just 15 occasions, suffering 58 defeats in the process.

Argentina go into this match having won the previous three games with an aggregate score of 12-5 in their favour.

We say: Argentina 3-1 Argentina

Recent clashes between this South American pair have rarely been dull, so this should be no different. Argentina have the superior players and you would expect them to win this one by a relatively comfortable margin.

Written by
Liam Apicella

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