(R/T) Conmebol WCQ 2022, Round 16
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rec.sport.soccer on Tue Feb 1 21:09:08 2022
Not a lot of surprises on this round. Ecuador clinches at least a playoff spot, and it's difficult not to see them making of it an automatic one in their coming
fixtures. Colombia, on the other hand, might have screwed up one time too many,
though they're not really out of contention yet. The unbeaten duo, Brasil and Argentina, remain like that (ie, unbeaten), though Brasil has broken their previous
record of unbeaten WCQ games. Chile pulls out a difficult away win, Uruguay gives
their crowd a good show and a confident performance, and Peru saves an important
point at home to remain thick in the hunt for a World Cup berth.
Bolivia 2-3 Chile
At a rain-soaked Estadio Hernando Siles, in La Paz, Chile defies the odds and keeps its qualifying challenge alive. Alexis Sanchez scored an early goal from a free kick, with some help from Lampe. For once, the "la pelota no dobla" myth bites a Bolivian keeper (actually no, Lampe just did poorly there). Chile kept the upper hand over the first half, but Bolivia somewhat out of nowhere equalised,
with a header by Cameroonian-born Enoumba in the 36th minute. In the second half,
Bolivia made most of the play and even hit the posts twice, but it was Chile's turn to score against the run of play, Nu|#ez in the 76th minute and Alexis again
in the 84th. Marcelo Moreno, the WCQ's top goalscorer, scored his 10th goal in the competition in the 87th minute to give the Bolivians some hope, but their late charge just wasn't to be.
Chile has rough waters ahead of them, visiting Brasil and then hosting Uruguay for the last two matchdays, without a doubt the toughest schedule of the remaining
contenders. I think it's unlikely, but major kudos to them if they pull it off. Uruguay 4-1 Venezuela
Uruguay does its homework and easily powers past Venezuela at Estadio Centenario,
in Montevideo. Betancur scored before a minute past kickoff, setting the tone for
a dominant night by La Celeste. In the 22nd minute, Pellistri waltzed through a forest of Venezuelan defenders and assisted de Arrascaeta for an easy tap in for
the 2-0. Cavani added the third in the 45th minute, with a bycicle kick a couple
of meters from the goal line after some pinball in the penalty area. In the second
half Suarez scored the fourth from a penalty kick, previously saved by Fari|#ez but
repeated due to encroaching, and a mistake by Gimenez allowed Josef Martinez to
score Venezuela's consolation goal.
Although the opponents they faced have been weak, Uruguay has been showing a renewed attitude under Diego Alonso. Whether it'll hold in tougher conditions remains to be seen, but so far they're again winning the games they have to win and are back in contention. As for Venezuela, Pekerman will be a busy man in the next cycle it seems.
(Or maybe not. 48 teams in 2026, you know.)
Argentina 1-0 Colombia
Streaks extended at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, in Cordoba. Argentina puts on yet another very good performance and extends their unbeaten run to 29 games, as a first half goal by Lautaro Martinez separated them from the beleaguered Colombians. The visitors had only one good scoring chance, right before the break, but two other Martinez's, Emiliano and Lisandro, denied them the equaliser.
Colombia is now seven games without a win, six without scoring. Their last two games are winnable, so they may put some pressure on other contenders, but unless
some other results go their way, 23 points are probably not going to be enough. Brasil 4-0 Paraguay
A very easy and straightforward win for Brasil at Mineir|uo, in Belo Horizonte. Raphinha had a goal called back early in the game for an involuntary handball, but 27 minutes into the game, he received a long ball by Marquinhos, dribbled
a defender and shot it past Anthony Silva for the opener. 16 minutes into the second half, another assist by Marquinhos found Phillipe Coutinho free to fire a nice long range blast from outside the box for the second goal. Tite subbed in Antony and Rodrygo and the floodgates opened, with each of the kids adding goals in the 85th and 87th minutes.
Paraguay was completely dominated and never once troubled the Brazilian defense.
They're now mathematically out of contention, to nobody's surprise I guess. Brasil has set a new record in this game. This was the 32nd WCQ game in a row unbeaten (I had gotten it wrong in my previous post and thought that that was the 30rd game unbeaten, it was in fact the 31st). Brasil's previous record streak
was 31, which were all the WCQ's played from 1954 to 1993, before the first loss
ever, to Bolivia in La Paz.
Peru 1-1 Ecuador
A close game at Estadio Nacional de Lima. Ecuador landed an early blow with a goal by Estrada, in the 2nd minute, and that set the tone of the first half,
in which they were solid and largely contained Peruvian efforts. In the second half, it seemed Ecuador would retain control, though they missed some key chances
to put the match beyond retrieval. Peru gradually found their way back into the game and, in the 68th minute, Flores headed in the equaliser for the hosts. With this result Ecuador guarantees at least a playoff spot, and it's hard
to see them not clinching an automatic one in the next round, as they visit Paraguay. Peru still have their destiny in their hands. They probably could have used a win here, but the point they got here might prove to be crucial down the line.
Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd]
1 Brasil 39 15 12 3 0 32 5 27
2 Argentina 35 15 10 5 0 23 7 16
3 Ecuador 25 16 7 4 5 25 15 10
4 Uruguay 22 16 6 4 6 20 23 -3 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Peru 21 16 6 3 7 17 21 -4 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Chile 19 16 5 4 7 19 20 -1
7 Colombia 17 16 3 8 5 16 19 -3
8 Bolivia 15 16 4 3 9 23 35 -12
9 Paraguay 13 16 2 7 7 9 23 -14
10 Venezuela 10 16 3 1 12 14 30 -16
Next round to be played on March 24th. In brackets below, the results of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2018/2014/2010/2006/2002/1998 (all the round robin ones so far):
Uruguay - Peru (1-0, 4-2, 6-0, 1-3, 0-0, 2-0). Matchday 7: 1-1
A six-pointer at El Centen|irio. Uruguay is the better side here and may even clinch an automatic berth with a win, if Chile fails to beat Brasil. This will be a huge challenge for the visitors, who at least have a winnable home game
in Round 18 to make up for whatever happens here. All the same, Peru is also still alive and I don't think they'll be a pushover. Key game of the round, Uruguay to win, say, 2-0 (in soph-terms: Uruguay 0.65, draw 0.25, Peru 0.10). Colombia - Bolivia (1-0, 5-0, 2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0). Matchday 7: 1-1
Colombia has no choice but to win, and even that may not be enough. And to do that, they have to resume scoring... Luckily for them, Bolivia is a famously harmless visitor. It's hard to see Colombia screwing up this one and, if they do, there's no point for them to go to Qatar anyway. Colombia to win 2-0 (in soph-terms: Colombia 0.90, draw 0.05, Bolivia 0.05).
Brasil - Chile (3-0, n/a, 4-2, 5-0, 2-0, n/a). Matchday 7: CHI 0-1 BRA
A difficult mission for Chile, who really wants to at least steal a point from this one if they want to keep the flame alive. In the previous four rounds they lost two as hosts and won two as visitors, but it is a tall order to imagine this pattern holding against Brasil. A draw could make the table interesting, but realistically, I think Brasil wins again, say, 2-0 (in soph-terms: Brasil 0.80, draw 0.15, Chile 0.05).
Paraguay - Ecuador (2-1, 2-1, 5-1, 2-1, 3-1, 1-0). Matchday 7: ECU 2-0 PAR Ecuador only needs a draw here to clinch an automatic spot. Although in the previous cycles they always lost in Asunci||n, it's kinda hard to see that happening here, seeing how weak Paraguay has been so far. Indeed, Paraguay
has the worst home record of the tournament (1 win, 4 draws, 3 losses). I believe Ecuador has enough in the tank to do what needs to be done here. Let's make it an away win in a close game, say, 0-1 (in soph-terms: Paraguay 0.30, draw 0.30, Ecuador 0.40).
Argentina - Venezuela (1-1, 3-0, 4-0, 3-2, 5-0, 2-0). Matchday 7: VEN 1-3 ARG Venezuela has lost all eight games they played as visitors thus far. Hard to see them breaking the pattern against this high-flying Argentinian team. The only thing at stake here is Argentina's unbeaten run, I think it's safe to
bet that they'll cling to it. Argentina to win 2-0 (in soph-terms: Argentina 0.95, draw 0.04, Venezuela 0.01).
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Ll|-o
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