By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN

With four rounds left, and after almost three years of home-and-away matches among the 10-nation pool of countries in South America, the dust is closely settling on who will make it to South Africa next year and who will stay home and watch it on TV—-and there's been little surprise at the outcome.

Brazil sits at the top of the table after 14 matches with 27 points, followed by a relentless Chile (26), who've been a revelation with the most wins so far in this campaign. Paraguay, which started out red-hot, hasn't won in its past four matches, but still sits in third with 24 points, while Argentina claims fourth with 22 points.

The fifth-place playoff spot that would take on CONCACAF's fourth-placed team now belongs to Ecuador (20) points, followed closely by Uruguay (18) and Colombia and Venezuela (both at 17). Bolivia (12) is close to being eliminated while Peru (7) was officially bounced from the competition.

Here's is a quick recap of this week's CONMEBOL's qualifying action:

ECUADOR 2 ARGENTINA 0

Ecuador sought six points during this week's matches in order to climb back in the race….and got it. Following its 2-1 away win in Peru last weekend, despite missing several key players, the Ecuadoreans turned around and focused on a crucial home contest against Argentina, a side that stuggled the last time around it faced a team in high altitude, evidenced by its 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Bolivia.

The Argentines came out strong in the first half and looked like it would walk away with a tie or possibly pull off a win but ran out of gas in the second half and the stamina-filled Ecuadoreans settled matters in the second half with a beauty of a goal by Walter Ayovi (Monterrey) and another by Pablo Palacios (Barcelona, Ecuador).

The Ecuadoreans' win pulled their side two points within a worried Argentine side for fourth place, giving Ecuador the much-needed momentum to battle for that last automatic qualifying berth. Meanwhile, Argentina are in danger of possibly missing out on South Africa, especially if it doesn't pick up points in its home clash against Brazil in September and away at Paraguay, a tough two matches that will have Argentine fans gnawing at their fingernails for the next two months.

BRAZIL 2 PARAGUAY 1

The Brazilians were given a scare in its home clash against Paraguay when Salvador Cabanas (Club America) gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. Cabanas has been a terror to the Brazilian defense in the past but the five-time world champions calmly settled the match down and rightfully rallied to a 2-1 victory with goals by Robinho (Man. City) and Nilmar (Internacional).

The Brazilians picked up a much-needed six points in these two rounds this week, following a 4-0 historic win in Uruguay, something they haven't been able to do in more than 30 years, and are now top of the table, awaiting its away clash against Argentina.

Meanwhile, Paraguay suffered its second straight loss and haven't won since its 1-0 win over Peru in October 2008. The Paraguayans were stifled 2-0 at home to red-hot Chile and now host Bolivia and Argentina in September's qualifiers—-games that it will need to prove to fans that it will end the competition on a high note after coming out strong with a five-game unbeaten steak to start out the qualifiers.

VENEZUELA 2 URUGUAY 2

Both teams complicated their respective matters by tying in Venezuela. Uruguay had fifth place locked up but has now slipped to sixth after this match and Venezuela, striving for its first World Cup berth, fell to eighth from seventh.

The match was evenly played and one could sense the urgency of both sides, evidenced by the back-and-forth play with no dominance by either side even after a fourth-minute goal by the Vinotinto's Giancarlo Maldonando (Atlante). Uruguay rallied for the lead with goals by its strike force of Diego Forlan (Atletic Madrid) and Luis Suarez (Ajax) but Jose Manuel Rey (Caracas) evened the match up to give the home team at least a point to walk away with.

Venezuela had the perfect opportunity to stun South America this week if it pulled off a win against Uruguay after its 1-0 away win in Bolivia last weekend but now will be left scrambling to battle it out with several teams for that coveted playoff spot. Uruguay complicated its situation after suffering a 4-0 loss at home and tying in Venezuela.

CHILE 4 BOLIVIA 0

Not much could be said about this match due to Chile's dominance but fans will be glad to see a side like the Rojos in the World Cup next year because of its exciting attack and young talent. The Chileans have not lost in five rounds, giving them a comfortable foothold on second place and can clinch a spot to South Africa with a home win against Venezuela in September.

Bolivia had a chance to revive its slim qualification hopes at home last weekend against Venezuela but failed to do so and are within a hair of being officially eliminated.

COLOMBIA 1 PERU 0

Colombia resucitated its vision for a berth after pickup up three points against lowly Peru and also almost walked away with one point in Argentina last weekend but fell to a 1-0 loss in Buenos Aires.

Last night, however, Colombia were dominant against the Peruvians but still couldn't put it in back of the net enough times to calm its nervous fans, something that's been the challenge for the Colombians in this campaign with only seven goals scored. With an artillery of forwards that any other national team would love to have, Colombia has been timid at the front during the competition and had failed to capitalize on several opportunities against Peru.

Meanwhile, for Peru, it's another World Cup they will watch at home. The Peruvians haven't qualified since 1982 and looks like it won't qualify for another in a very long time if they don't settle matters among players, the federation and administration, who've been in a war of words through the press.

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What did you think of these matches? Who do you see grabbing the fifth spot against CONCACAF? Are you surprise at what's happening with Argentina? Do you have a solution for Peru's woes? Share your thoughts below.