Basile happy with Argentina progress (7 Jul 2007 17:10 GMT)
Coach Alfio Basile was delighted with the display of Argentina team in their 1-0 victory over Paraguay.
Basile thinks Argentina deserved it after dominating their opponents for long periods, though he did recognise keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri's contribution to their third consecutive win.
"We were clearly the better side," he said. "We had a few absentees and the players responded. The 'Pato' (Abbondanzieri) had a great night. He saved two of the game's best chances."
Basile is also expecting a tough encounter against Peru in their last eight clash on Sunday.
"Peru played very well against Uruguay," he added. "I like the Peruvian team's style and it will be a close game. We don't have time to fix our weaknesses but I hope the team can improve."
Mascherano admitted he was surprised to get on the scoresheet.
"Isn't usual for me to score, so I'm very happy for the goal and the win," he said. "We played very well. I scored but the most important thing was that Argentina won and we played good football. It was important we could rest players because we suffered due to the heat during the two first games."
Inter defender Nicolas Burdisso was also pleased with the result.
"We were defensively sound like we were against Colombia and the United States," he said."This is a very strong group of players that want to make history."
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino rued his team's wastefulness after Salvador Cabanas and Dante Lopez both missed good chances.
"It's true, Argentina had the ball for the entire match but we had the game's best chances," he said. "What hurt was the defeat."
source : sportinglife