While Argentina and Brazil win without the stars and have the luxury of testing players with Qatar 2020 in mind, the bid for the available places in South America for the next World Cup is still open.
Ecuador, which was better profiled, did not seal its ticket in the double qualifying date that has just concluded. Peru and Uruguay raised their heads, Chile is not resigned and Colombia stretched out the agony. Two of them will qualify directly and another will play an intercontinental playoff.
Without Neymar and Lionel Messi, leaders Brazil and Argentina extended their unbeaten run in the competition with several new faces or players who are not usually starters. Classified in advance, the South American tie has become a laboratory for them to adjust tactical details and define the squad that will play in the World Cup.
La Verdeamarela (39 points) crushed Paraguay 4-0, whose hopes were mathematically buried. With Neymar absent due to injury, the performances of Raphinha and Philippe Coutinho stood out.
“I cannot conceive of a football in which the pieces do not have harmony. This is the goal we have. And when there are games that we are inspired by, like today, that fluidity and the result happen”, Tite said.
La Albiceleste (35 points) did not have their captain Messi due to his inactivity due to the coronavirus he contracted at the end of the year.
“They all show commitment and desire to want to be there. Nobody has a guaranteed job, except one (Messi), as I always said”, warned the Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni after the 1-0 victory over Colombia, with which he extended the undefeated games to 29. Before, they had defeated Chile 2-1 in Calama. “I don’t think that’s important; yes the functioning of the team and how these players feel wearing this shirt”.
Two draws as balance postponed Ecuador’s plans, third in the tie with 25 points.
After 1-1 at home against Brazil, La Tri had taken the early lead in Peru with Michael Estrada’s goal, but paid for one of those unforgivable mistakes for a detailed coach like the Argentine Gustavo Alfaro with the draw.
The strategist had ordered the entry of winger Diego Palacios due to the injury of midfielder Ayrton Preciado, but his shirt “disappeared”.
“The shirt wasn’t there and that’s why we couldn’t make the change, and at that moment, when they brought me the shirt, the referee had already set the ball in motion and we were missing a player. And that’s where the play came from… It’s fatalityAlfaro said.
They have Paraguay ahead in Asunción and Argentina at home in March to meet the goal.
edison flowershero in the win against Colombia days ago, sealed the 1-1 that allowed Blanquirroja what seemed impossible a few days ago: with 21 points they are in the playoffs.
“The most important thing of all is that the Peruvian team depends on itself in the last two dates. That is very good and I value it for the sacrifice of the boys, arriving depending on us was what we were looking for”, highlighted the coach of Peru Ricardo Gareca. Uruguay and Paraguay are his next rivals.
After the change of coach, Uruguay reaped two victories and is fourth with 22 points. Diego Alonso replaced the veteran Óscar Washington Tabárez after a run of four defeats and five days without a victory that compromised the classification.
“We all attack and we all defend, when we don’t have the ball we have to be the team that defends the best and when we attack we have to be the one that attacks the best”, described the coach after beating Venezuela 4-1 in Montevideo.
Rodrigo Bentancur, a brand new signing from Tottenham, scored the fastest goal so far in the South American qualifiers when the first minute of play had not been completed. Veteran Luis Suárez made his contribution from the penalty spot and with 28 goals surpassed Messi (27) as the top scorer in the history of the South American qualifiers.
After hosting the Peruvians, La Celeste will play away against Chile.
The Calama plan — instead of the National Stadium in Santiago — failed La Roja against Argentina, but it served to acclimatize and strike at the height of La Paz with a 3-2 victory over Bolivia that allowed them to reach the closing alive of the playoffs.
Sixth with 19 points, Gary Medel said that “We are with faith intact, we are going to fight for our goals and for our dreams, we are not going to give up, we are going to continue fighting, fighting like all Chileans”.
Colombia did not find the goal formula and was displaced to seventh position with 17 points after two defeats. It takes seven duels without inflating the networks.
For his questioned coach Reinaldo Rueda “this is not over and we have to answer until the end. The chances were far away due to the results of the rivals, but the qualifying round is not over. We have two days left”.
It will face two eliminated rivals — Bolivia and Venezuela — but it no longer depends on itself.
This double day finished burying the remote possibilities of Bolivia (15) and Paraguay (13).
While the Venezuelan César Farías insinuated his departure from Bolivia, his Argentine colleague Guillermo Barros Schelotto is already planning what will come.
“Starting tomorrow we have to think about the future, aware of and responsible for the moment in which we live and putting together a new team to be back in a World Cup, as on previous occasions”, commented Barros Schelotto.
Paraguay played its last World Cup in South Africa 2010.
Source: Gestion
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