India, July 5 -- Paraguay did not eliminate France. But for more than 100 exhausting minutes in Philadelphia, they showed that a disciplined low block, relentless physicality and constant disruption can still unsettle the best team in world football. And that may prove far more valuable than the defeat itself. Instead of focusing only on Paraguay's dark arts, the bigger takeaway is that they exposed a blueprint that Morocco may well study before next week's quarterfinal.

To start with the obvious, this was not a one-off strategy from Paraguay. They eliminated four-time champions Germany in the previous round playing the exact same way - deep, compact, combative, daring their opponent to break them down, then trusting the moment would eve...