After the break, the situation did not change much as Argentina struggled to create anything of value. For Paraguay, a draw against Argentina is definitely huge but they would be deflated knowing they had the chance to win this one and pile on Argentina's misery. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of NEWS18.com does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them. ... We would have liked to have started in another way, but the players are clear that there are two games to play.". It's only fitting that Argentina's first goal of its 2019 Copa Americacampaign came from Lionel Messi after video assistant referee awarded him a penalty kick. Argentina goalkeeper Franco Armani celebrates after saving Derlis Gonzalez's penalty. Having run the pitch distance from his own half, Almiron squared the ball in the centre. Argentina required intervention from Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to get started at the Copa America and Messi even seemed to thank the system in his goal celebration. Full time and it ends Argentina 1 Paraguay 1 - another dismal display created some excitement for about 10 minutes and then Scaloni decided to revert back to utter crap. Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot to salvage a 1-1 draw for Argentina against Paraguay in the Copa América as his side rode their luck to cling on to hope of reaching the quarter-finals. Both matches are slated for Sunday at 3 p.m. Just a few minutes later, Nicolas Otamendi put in a rash challenge in the box and the referee immediately awarded a penalty to Paraguay. Richard Sánchez put Paraguay ahead in the 37th minute after a lung-bursting run from Miguel Almirón before Messi levelled in the 57th minute after a handball by Paraguay’s Iván Piris which no-one appealed for but was spotted by a VAR review. Richard Sánchez with the finish ⚽️ https://t.co/lQyPSgP05S. In the 55th minute, Sergio Aguero showed some power to put the ball in the centre from the right but two attempts later, Argentina failed to find the back of the net. Colombia were the better team in the first half, with Roger Martínez having a goal ruled out for offside after just five minutes and Rodríguez putting a free header wide eight minutes later. Heading into the final match of group play against Qatar, who managed to come from behind and get a 2-2 draw against Paraguay, Argentina rookie head coach Lionel Scaloni has done little to inspire confidence: I thought the Matías Suárez for Agüero sub when behind to Colombia was bad & then Scaloni goes and takes off Lautaro for Di María when still needing a goal against Paraguay. Belo Horizonte: Argentina got themselves on the board in the 2019 edition of Copa America as Lionel Messi's penalty helped them get a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Paraguay at the Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto in Belo Horizonte on Thursday. Messi's converting from the spot leveled Argentina with Paraguay 1-1 in the 57th minute and salvaged a necessary result for the Argentines. Paraguay hits Argentina on a counter attack! Not to mention, the team's general discord led, just as in its opening 2-0 loss to Colombia, to Messi being neutralized in the run of play. Barely. Zapata rose with five minutes left to head home a floated cross from man of the match James Rodríguez and break the deadlock in a scrappy but end to end encounter at the Morumbi stadium. If not for that, Paraguay easily should have walked away with all three points. Paraguay's penalty chance, for example, came thanks to a reckless tackle by Nicolas Otamendi. VAR's intervention meant the referee had a look for a possible penalty over handball and after looking at the footage, Argentina were awarded the penalty. Brazil frustrated by VAR and booed off in Copa América draw with Venezuela. More space for Messi. Argentina are still alive. Paraguay, on the other hand, took a cautious approach in the start but broke the shackles in the 37th minute. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. Lionel Messi stepped up and buried the ghosts of all those crucial misses and scored the penalty. Who is YouTuber Vijay P Nair Who Recently Got Beaten by Women's Rights Activists in Kerala? Lionel Messi equalised for Argentina from the spot at Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte. ET on ESPN+. Messi scores Argentina's first goal of the tournament https://t.co/hKhu0iFI4D. Argentina's final Group B match will be against Qatar, and Paraguay will wrap up against group-leading Colombia. From Group B, Colombia have already qualified for the quarter-finals with six points from two games while Paraguay now sit second after two points from two games. If Messi buried the penalty awarded to Argentina, Derlis Gonzalez missed the one Paraguay received just moments after as the two teams settled for a draw. However, Derlis Gonzalez missed from the spot and Argentina were handed a huge lifeline. A Lionel Messi penalty and spot-kick save by goalkeeper Franco Armani kept Argentina’s Copa America hopes alive as they put in another sub-par performance in a 1-1 draw with Paraguay. Argentina are still bottom of Group B with one point from two games but they could progress to the last eight with a win over third-placed Qatar in their final group game next Sunday.