Argentina’s caretaker coach, Lionel Scaloni, has said his side did not play well against Paraguay and struggled to cope with the shock of conceding the first goal.

Lionel Messi and co were held to a 1-1 draw in the second Copa America fixture on Wednesday night.

Messi scored from the penalty spot to salvage the draw for Argentina, cancelling out a first-half strike from Paraguay’s Richard Sanchez.

“Our first half was not good, we played with desperation at times and we couldn’t control the play or create attacks.

We had a very clear plan but couldn’t execute it as we kept losing the ball.

“They scored with their first attack and that caused us a lot of uncertainty.

“For a team like Argentina, which feels like it always has to win, the first blow is hard to take, but we assured the players at halftime that it was just one goal,” Scaloni told reporters after the game.

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 on Sunday.