South American Qualifying Roundup
After Games 5 and 6, See How the Nations Stand En Route to WC 2010
With top placed side Paraguay marking a win and a loss this June, Argentina two draws and Brazil a loss and a draw, the continent's traditionally strongest teams have remained unable to open up any space between themselves and the pack, conisisting of Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela and Chile, all of whom have a very high chance of qualifying for South Africa 2010. The stragglers, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru are battling bad luck and lack of form. Here we look at the matches the results for Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia repectively. For Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela see here.
Results for Game 5
Uruguay 1 - 1 Venezuela
Peru 1 - 1 Colombia
Argentina 1 - 1 Ecuador
Paraguay 2 - 0 Brazil
Bolivia 0 - 2 Chile
Results for Game 6
Uruguay 6 - 0 Peru
Bolivia 4 - 2 Paraguay
Ecuador 0 - 0 Colombia
Brazil 0 - 0 Argentina
Venezuela 2 - 3 Chile
Summary of Results
Argentina
Alfio Basile will be wondering where it has all gone awry. Desite not losing, the Argentine side almost fell to an historic defeat in Buenos Aires to Ecuador, saved in what was the more or less the last kick of the game and resulted in a Palacios goal to tie the game 1-1. In Brazil they were unlucky not to claim the scalp of their age old rivals as Lionel Messi went close on a number of times, but a 0-0 draw did justice to an altogether uninspiring match.
Bolivia
Marking their first victory in this qualifying circus, the Bolivians will have taken some positives from their game versus Paraguay but will also be ruing their home defeat to Chile. How is it that a team can take points off the Bolivians in their stadium way up at an altitude almost 4000m? For so long the Bolivian's main aly and form of attack at home has been the altitude but they appear to have something of a brighter future with the emergence of Marcelo Moreno on the international stage.
Brazil
Perhaps the most underwhelming side of this stage, coach Dunga will be facing the most critical time in charge of the national team. With shining lights such as Robinho and Ronaldinho how can this team fail? They were boring and unimaginative in the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion and were outplayed and lucky to scrape a 0-0 draw with Argentina on the home turf of Belo Horizonte leading to the home crowd to jeer him at the final whistle. With Chile's win they slip into fifth place.
Chile
Fielding a young side who will if allowed to progress do great things in the future, Chile outplayed and suffocated the Bolivians in La Paz and took a fine 2-0 victory back with them to Santiago. This team who are increasing in confidence and ability could be a shoe in for the fourth automatic qualifying spot gievn their hard fought and invaluabel win away in Venezuela. Two away games and 6 points cannot be laughed at. Man to watch - Humberto Suazo of Colo Colo.
Colombia
Coach Pinto claimed he was aiming for 4 points from the two away games but managed 2. The Colombian team had a sparkling first half in Lima and then in the second were thanking their lucky stars to come away with a draw. In Quito they were comprehnsively outplayed by an Ecuador side eager to exploit the midfield and will be happy with the no score result. Colombia desperately need an out and out striker and the skill of ball retention, but despite everything remain unbeaten.
How the League Stands
1 - Paraguay - 13 pts
2 - Argentina - 11 pts
3 - Colombia - 10 pts
4 - Chile - 10 pts
5 - Brazil - 9 pts
6 - Uruguay - 8 pts
7 - Venezuela - 7 pts
8 - Ecuador - 5 pts
9 - Bolivia - 4 pts
10 - Peru - 3 pts
There is a brief respite for all of the national teams and then they are expected to perform and deliver once again over games 7 to 10 all of which are taking place in September and October 2008. Given the way the table stands at the moment we are certain to see some upsets and shock results.
