Brazil coach Tite admitted on Wednesday he fears the injustice of a penalty shoot-out as the hosts prepare to face Paraguay in the Copa America quarter-finals on Thursday.
Brazil are haunted by the spectre of penalty shoot-outs against Paraguay having twice been eliminated by their western neighbors in that exact manner, at this very stage of the Copa America.
In 2011, Paraguay edged Brazil 2-0 on penalties and went on to reach the final in Argentina, losing to Uruguay in the title match.
And four years later in Chile, they repeated the trick, 4-3 on spot-kicks, although that time they were thrashed 6-1 by Argentina in the semi-finals.
"I'll never feel calm in a penalty shoot-out, I'll never change my mind on that," said Tite, at a press conference at the Gremio Arena in Porto Alegre, where Thursday's match will take place.
"Penalties are unfair, they personalize success or failure and that's not fair," he said.
"I don't know how but they should find another way."
Nevertheless, assistant coach Cleber Xavier said the Selecao "practised penalties today and tomorrow we'll start talking about the strategy for that."
- 'Aggressive' Paraguay -
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But Barcelona midfielder Arthur said the pitch is "the same for both sides."
"I've not got much to say about the pitch," he said, pointing to the fact that to do so would be "forgetting about the football."
"Our biggest focus is winning the game, doing what we do well and being very focused on the final result."
- Tite aims for 'balance' -
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"We have to play our game. We have VAR and referees. If there are many fouls, that's part of the game and we will adapt to it."
Paraguay's Argentine coach Eduardo Berizzo urged his side not to be overwhelmed by their illustrious opponents and "transform ourselves into dangerous rivals."
"Obviously they're going to put a lot of pressure on us defensively," he said, adding that his players need "to be brave and come out and play without inhibitions."
"It's a balance, there's no point being very aggressive with many strikers but not able to stop goals. And it's not good to be scared (of conceding) all the time you're attacking, having no trust. There must be a balance."