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Uruguay, Chile roll in World Cup qualifying

Uruguay

The road to World Cup 2014 is a third of the way complete for CONEMBOL as the proverbial powers find themselves in good position to qualify after Matchday Six.

Uruguay remained unbeaten in qualifying with an thrilling 4-2 victory over bottom-dwelling Peru on Sunday. The defending Copa America Champion found goals from four different players to rebound from last week's draw with Venezuela. Sebastian Coates opened the scoring in controversial fashion when his goal-bound header was deemd to have crossed the line before being cleared. Uruguay's advantage was doubled in the 30th minute with a goal from Maximiliano Pereira.

Peru proved resilient, however, and clawed its way back on to level terms with an own goal in the 40th minute from defender Diego Godin and a strike from Paolo Guerrero. Eventually Uruguay proved too much for Peru and Christian Rodriguez retook the lead in the 63rd minute before Sebastian Eguren added an insurance goal in stoppage time. Uruguay moves to second place in CONEMBOL qualifying, one point behind Chile with a game in hand.

Here is a look back at Chile's victory over Venezuela, Ecuador's narrow win against Colombia, and Bolivia's rout of Paraguay.

Chile retained its hold on the top spot in CONEMBOL with a dramatic 2-0 win over Venezuela. After failing to score in an opening 85 minutes, Matias Fernandez's deflected shot found the bottom corner. Venezuela poured forward in the closing stages of the game and Charles Aranguiz took advantage by nodding home Sebastian Pinto's cross in the first minute of stoppage time.

It was a good result for a Chile team that sent home two players for partying at a night club the night before a training session. Chile has won three qualifiers in a row with two of them coming on the road.

Bolivia kept its hopes of qualifying for its first World Cup since 1994 alive with a 3-1 victory over Paraguay. The home side jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Alcides Pena scoring after only 10 minutes and Pablo Escobar bagging a brace with goals in the 70th and 80th minutes. Christian Riveros pulled a consolation goal back for a Paraguay side that was clearly suffering from the altitude of La Paz. Both teams are struggling with only four points thus far.

Ecuador moved into the all-important fourth spot with it's narrow 1-0 win over Colombia. Cristian Benitez provided the only score of the game just eight minutes after the restart. Ecuador holds a one-point advantage over fifth placed Venezuela and a two-point advantage over sixth-placed Colombia. The top four teams are separated by a scant three points.

Argentina was the only CONEMBOL team not in qualifying action over the weekend.

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What did you think of South American qualifying? Will Chile, Uruguay and Argentina qualify easily or will someone trip them up? Do Peru, Bolivia or Paraguay have any hope?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. So far Messi failed to translate his club talents into international success. Without international level success, a player can’t be great, a club success makes him only a good. Super talented Messi was a super flop in 2010 WC. What a humiliating defeat by 0-4 in the hands of dynamite Germans! Where was Messi’s talent to challenge the Germans? He even failed to score a single goal in 2010 WC. Compare that match with Uruguay-Germany match in the same WC and see the difference. Messi is not the super power like Maradona who could win the cup alone. It was Maradona who alone won the cup and golden ball for Argentina in 1986 and lifted the team to final in 1990, also beat Brazil by 1-0 in the same WC. Messi is not that talented, wait and see how he performs in 2014. Keep watching Uruguay, it is a strong contender in 2014, and could be the champion. Uruguay is very balanced, high team spirits, could fight up to the last moment, multiple players with scoring abilities and a great coach.

    Reply
  2. So far Messi failed to translate his club talents into international success. Without international level success, a player can’t be great, a club success makes him only a good. Super talented Messi was a super flop in 2010 WC. What a humiliating defeat by 0-4 in the hands of dynamite Germans! Where was Messi’s talent to challenge the Germans? He even failed to score a single goal in 2010 WC. Compare that match with Uruguay-Germany match in the same WC and see the difference. Messi is not the super power like Maradona who could win the cup alone. It was Maradona who alone won the cup and golden ball for Argentina in 1986 and lifted the team to final in 1990, also beat Brazil by 1-0 in the same WC. Messi is not that talented, wait and see how he performs in 2014. Keep watching Uruguay, it is a strong contender in 2014, and could be the champion. Uruguay is very balanced, high team spirits, could fight up to the last moment, multiple players with scoring abilities and a great coach.

    Reply
  3. So far Messi failed to translate his club talents into international success. Without international level success, a player can’t be great, a club success makes him only a good. Super talented Messi was a super flop in 2010 WC. What a humiliating defeat by 0-4 in the hands of dynamite Germans! Where was Messi’s talent to challenge the Germans? He even failed to score a single goal in 2010 WC. Compare that match with Uruguay-Germany match in the same WC and see the difference. Messi is not the super power like Maradona who could win the cup alone. It was Maradona who alone won the cup and golden ball for Argentina in 1986 and lifted the team to final in 1990, also beat Brazil by 0-1 in the same WC. Messi is not that talented, wait and see how he performs in 2014. Keep watching Uruguay, it is a strong contender in 2014, and could be the champion. Uruguay is very balanced, high team spirits, could fight up to the last moment, multiple players with scoring abilities and a great coach.

    Reply
  4. Because you’re full hate.

    Suarez is a player gives it all, and sacrice himself for “la Celeste”. Suarez made 3+ million people proud and happy.

    Reply
  5. Historically speaking your are correct, but things have changed in recent years. Brazil is still producing lots of talented players, but they are not as good as Brazilian players used to be. Brazil does not have anyone who is as good as Messi, even though Pele is delusional enough to claim that Neymar is better. And, Messi’s brilliance aside, for the last six years or so, Spain played much better soccer than Brazil did. Dunga’s team was quite good and efficient, but they were counterattacking, reactive teams that would have made Garrincha and Pele cringe. The current team is trying to play more open and attacking soccer, but it lost its last two games to Mexico and Argentina. Things may change before 2014, but Brazil is not the best in the world at the moment.

    Reply
  6. Very happy for Bolivia. They have skilled players, yet often lack discipline or mental toughness. Keep it up.

    As for the Peru-Uruguay game – it was much closer than the scoreline. Very exciting, emotional and scrappy match. Both teams are quite good.

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