It's a Paraguay-Uruguay final

MENDOZA, Argentina (AP):

Paraguay rode their luck through another penalty shoot-out to beat Venezuela on Wednesday and set up a Copa America final against Uruguay.

Paraguay, who have not won any of their five matches in the tournament, booked their place in the final following a scoreless tie and a 5-3 victory on penalties.

The only miss in the shoot-out came when Justo Villar stopped Franklin Lucena's shot. Dario Veron held his nerve to score on the final spot kick and set up Sunday's final against Uruguay, who beat Peru 2-0 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.

"I hope we are having some champion's luck, because in truth we suffered a lot," Paraguay striker Nelson Haedo Valdez said. "We were very lucky, but football is like this, not always the winner is the best."

Venezuela, known more for their baseball, twice hit the post in extra time but came up just short of reaching their first-ever final in the South American championship.

Paraguay advanced to their first Copa America final since 1979 despite a mediocre record. They eliminated Brazil in another penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals.

"Today we played bad, we played good," said Paraguay's Nestor Ortigoza. "The important thing is we won."

After the shoot-out, a brawl between the teams started as Paraguay celebrated, prompting police to intervene. Venezuela coach Cesar Farias blamed Paraguay team officials for provoking his players.

That incident came after a game in which Paraguay had their coach and assistant coach expelled from the sideline for arguing decisions.

Nestor Ortigoza, Lucas Barrios, Cristian Riveros and Osvaldo Martinez also scored for Paraguay in the shoot-out.

Giancarlo Maldonado, Jose Rey and Nicolas Fedor scored for Venezuela, but Lucena - taking his team's third kick - saw his low shot to the bottom left corner comfortably held by Villar.

Not happy

"We came convinced we could advance," Farias said. "We did everything humanly possible. Our team never lost its focus. ... We're not content because we worked to go farther."

Villar had already been key for Paraguay when they eliminated Brazil, making difficult saves in regulation and extra time and then stopping a penalty in the shoot-out.

"We are all heroes today," Villar said. "I stopped a penalty and the ball hit the post several times, that also comes into play in times like these."

After a lacklustre 90 minutes, Venezuela twice hit the woodwork in extra time and had some good scoring opportunities.

Maldonado fired a cross shot that was deflected by Fedor on to the post in the 93rd minute. A couple of minutes later, Juan Arango's long-range free kick struck Villar's far post and the Paraguay defence just barely cleared the rebound. Fedor came close again in the 96th, but his shot from close range was saved by Villar.

Venezuela were able to pressure even more after Jonathan Santana was sent off in the 102nd minute for receiving a second yellow card.

Villar had to make another stop on a shot by Salomon Rondon from near the penalty spot, and Gabriel Chichero shot wide from the top of the area in the 114th.

"We fought until the end and we had our chances, but the shoot-out is always a lottery," goalkeeper Renny Vega said. "At least we showed that Venezuela deserves some respect. We have to keep our heads high."

Venezuela had made it through to the Copa America semi-finals for the first time in their history by beating Chile 2-1 in the quarters.

With the 45,000-capacity Malvinas Argentinas stadium less than half-full on a cold night, those fans on hand saw a game of few scoring opportunities before Venezuela's extra-time flourish.