Argentina boss Alfio Basile believes Carlos Tevez's sending-off played a pivotal role in his side's 1-1 draw with Paraguay.

Tevez was dismissed in the 30th minute following a dangerous tackle on Paulo Da Silva after Gabriel Heinze's own goal had put Argentina behind.

"I am leaving satisfied with the team's performance as we had lots of bad luck. Tevez being sent off changed our planning, but during the second half we improved and we were better than them."

Playmaker Roman Riquelme and defender Martin Demichelis added that the hosts deserved the victory after a much-improved second-half performance.

"We deserved to win," said Riquelme. "We started one goal behind and things got worse after Tevez's red card. It was very complicated, but in the final stages we got into our stride."

Bayern Munich star Demichelis added: "We were in control and we suffered the sending-off. Despite the fact we didn't win, our fans saw a good performance in the second half.

"I think that we have to stress that we dominated this phase of the game and did all the hard work."

Captain Javier Zanetti was also proud of his team's hard-fought point.

He said: "We played with attitude. We created more scoring chances than them and they were ahead even when they didn't deserve it.

"We took the space away from them and were close to triumphing."

Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino was disappointed his side missed out on a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the qualifying group.

"We lost a historic opportunity to win in the Monumental stadium. At some points (in the match) we took advantage of Argentina's desperation, but couldn't take our chances and we always expected Argentina to take control.

"Sadly our moment of confusion came when we were a goal ahead and with one more man on the field."

Midfielder Jonathan Santana added: "We pressured them during the first half, but they played better than us in the second.

"They have very dangerous players that kept us penned inside our box on several occasions."