Neymar s absence for Brazil does not render the South American powerhouse rudderless, according to Paraguay centre-back Paulo da Silva.
The Paraguayans will go up against Neymar-less Brazil in Concepcion on Saturday, with Dunga losing his captain to a four-game suspension when a post-match stoush following their loss to Colombia saw the Barcelona star lose his cool.
But Da Silva, 35, said Brazil who have since beaten Venezuela 2-1 remain a dangerous outfit regardless.
Neymar is a hugely important player for Brazil, Da Silva told a news conference in La Serena on Monday.
He showed at Barcelona last season what a great player he is, winning the treble.
But Brazil remain extremely dangerous even without Neymar. They have had phases where they haven t played so well, but in short tournaments it s results that count. They are very good at dead balls and very dangerous.
They are here on merit and they will punish any mistakes.
We will try to advance to a semi-final, which would be a dream for us and something very special.
But we will need to play an almost perfect game to get to the last four.
Paraguay full-back Ivan Piris said Neymar deserved to be punished, and felt it would be a severe blow to Brazil s title chances.
Neymar is a great player and being without him is pretty damaging to Brazil, the Udinese man said.
And asked about the forward s four-match ban, he added: I don t want to talk too much about that because the problem belongs to them. But I think it s fair.
Da Silva, who plies his club trade with Toluca FC in Mexico, said their 2015 outfit was better than the side that reached the 2011 Copa final.
I think we are a better team now than we were then, the centre-back added.
We came from 2-0 down against Argentina and we played well in phases against Jamaica and Uruguay. We have had more possession as well in recent games. I think we have evolved since 2011.
It will be an even game and we want to give some joy to our people. It s do or die against Brazil.
