The STUNNING Miguel Almiron Copa America statistic that will NOT surprise Newcastle United fans

And while his side have played just two games in South America’s premier international competition – the Magpies speedster has been raising eyebrows with his performances.

Almiron starred in the 3-1 opening game win over Bolivia and was again a key performer in the 1-0 loss to Argentina, a game in which Paraguay had more shots, possession and made more passes.

But it has been with his dribbling that Almiron has particularly caught the eye – and the following statistic will surprise few Newcastle United fans, given the 27-year-old former Atlanta United man’s significance to the Magpies’ way of playing.

Only three players have completed more than 10 successful dribbles in the competition, which is being staged in Brazil.

And while the hosts’ Neymar makes the list, alongside Argentina’s Lionel Messi, so too does Almiron, with the latter having played a game less.

At present, Almiron’s Paraguay sit third in Group A, which is made of up countries in the ‘south zone’ of South America. They are two points behind tonight’s opponents Chile, who have Stoke-born, Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton leading the line, who qualifies due to his mother being from the South American nation.

While the group stages have been cut from six teams down to five, with Australia and Qatar pulling out due to Covid, the top four teams of each group will still advance to the quarter-finals. This is the first 10-team Copa since 1991.

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