BRAZIL FOLLOWS ARGENTINA OUT OF COPA AMERICA

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - First it was Argentina, now Brazil has been eliminated from a surprising Copa America tournament.

Brazil lost to Paraguay on penalties in the quarterfinals on Sunday, meaning the tournament will finish without South America's two most important national teams. Host Argentina was knocked out Saturday after losing to Uruguay, also in a penalty shootout.

The semifinals will pit Uruguay against Peru and Paraguay against Venezuela, which advanced to the semifinals for the first time in its history by beating Chile 2-1.

There will be a new South American champion for the first time in at least 16 years. Uruguay won the 1995 tournament at home, and since then Brazil won four titles and Colombia one -- at home in 2001.

The Copa America winner will automatically earn a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil.

Brazil outplayed Paraguay from the start but was not able to capitalize on its scoring opportunities, thanks mostly to a great performance by goalkeeper Justo Villar.

Villar stopped defender Thiago Silva's shot in the shootout and Elano, Andre Santos and Fred also missed for Brazil, giving the Paraguayans a 2-0 victory. Marcelo Estigarribia and Christian Riveros scored to help Paraguay reach the final four for the first time since 1989.

"Brazil should've won after 90 minutes," Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino said. "Sometimes we get these results. We played entirely differently from how we wanted to play."

Paraguay will play in the semifinals, despite not having any victories in its four matches so far. It's only shot on goal Sunday didn't come until the 88th minute. Brazil, meanwhile, had several clear scoring chances throughout the match in La Plata.

Brazil was trying to win its third straight Copa America title after having won four of the past five tournaments, and coach Mano Menezes brought a mixed squad of veterans and promising young stars to also prepare for the 2014 World Cup at home.

"It's important to keep our calm after a loss and avoid thinking that it was all negative," Menezes said. "We improved after the (tough) start in the competition and we will continue working hard so we can reach the positive results in the future."

Brazil won only one of its four matches. The team drew with Venezuela and Paraguay before beating Ecuador 4-2 in the group stage.

"It's always disappointing when things don't go our way," Menezes said.

Argentina's exit also was disappointing. Playing at home, and with Lionel Messi, it was trying to end a drought of 18 years without major titles.

In San Juan, Venezuela continued its surprising run by eliminating Chile, which had been playing well and was considered a title favourite.

Oswaldo Vizcarrondo opened the scoring in the 35th minute and Gabriel Cichero scored the winner in the 81st. Chile scored with Humberto Suazo in the 70th.

Both teams finished with 10 players after Chile's Gary Medel was sent off for his second yellow card in the 83rd and Venezuela's Tomas Rincon was shown a red card in second-half injury time

"I am leaving sad," said Chile coach Claudio Borghi. "But I don't feel cheated. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet all the expectations people had."

Better known for its baseball, Venezuela is unbeaten in four games. It was coming off draws against Brazil and Paraguay and a victory against Ecuador.

"We beat a rival who was in the World Cup," Venezuela coach Cesar Farias said of Chile, which reached the second round last year in South Africa.

Uruguay, now the slight title favourite, will play Peru on Tuesday in La Plata. Paraguay and Venezuela will play Wednesday at Mendoza. Uruguay drew the Peruvians 1-1 when they met in the group stage, while Paraguay and Venezuela drew 3-3.