• (R/T) Conmebol WCQ 2022, Round 3

    From =?UTF-8?B?TGzDqW8=?=@24:150/2 to rec.sport.soccer on Fri Nov 13 19:21:13 2020
    Bolivia 2-3 Ecuador
    Nice comeback win for Ecuador at Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz. Arce
    scored first for the hosts late in the first half and they took this
    advantage to the break, but three goals in the opening 15 minutes of
    the second half made it all level. Bolivia grew in the game and went
    after its first win in this cycle, but succumbed to a late 86th minute
    penalty to the visitors.
    Good result for Ecuador, third in the table. Bolivia loses the third in
    three and remains at the bottom.
    Argentina 1-1 Paraguay
    A poor game I thought at La Bombonera, Buenos Aires. Paraguay scored
    first, Angel Romero, converting a (dubious I thought) penalty. Argentina
    woke up then and slowly cornered Paraguay in their half of the field,
    and was duly rewarded at the end of the first half, goal by Nicol|is
    Gonz|ilez. There was a clearer penalty to Paraguay (IMHO) in the second
    half, on a handball by Otamendi, but the ref didn't consider it intentional. But Argentina would complain again about the referee (Raphael Claus, from Brasil): Messi had a goal annulled due to a foul some 30 seconds earlier, spotted by VAR.
    Argentina kept up the pressure until the end but Paraguay (typically)
    held on and got a valuable away point from this trip to Buenos Aires.
    Both sides are still unbeaten in the tournament.
    Colombia 0-3 Uruguay
    Edison Cavani returns to La Celeste in style, at Estadio Metropolitano de Barranquilla, having missed the WCQ's opening rounds. Four minutes into the game he scored the opener, his 16th in 39 WCQ's played. He'd eventually be subbed off at the 77th minute and left the field applauded by his teammates. Early in the second half Suarez scored on a penalty his 25th WCQ goal, making of him the all-time top goalscorer of Conmebol qualifiers. Darwin Nu|#ez later added the third.
    Uruguay was unforgiving and Colombia didn't really see what has hit them. Colombia dropped four positions, but it's still all very close these days. Chile 2-0 Peru
    Good win by Chile at the Superclasico del Pac|!fico, at Estadio Nacional de Santiago. Two goals by Vidal separated them from the Peruvians, whose efforts were stopped by Claudio Bravo whenever called upon. Chile was efficient defending their lead and Peru couldn't find their way back into the match.
    Now Chile is 6th, ahead of Colombia on GD. Peru is 8th, only one point so
    far.
    Brasil 1-0 Venezuela
    One-way traffic at Morumbi, S|uo Paulo, as Brasil dominated the vinotinto in
    a match that resembled a long attack vs defense drill. Brasil was neither inspiring nor inspired, and yawned their way through a game that Venezuela didn't even seem to try to win. You'd think the empty stadium would make
    the visitors more daring, but not this time, no. Firmino scored Brasil's winner, on the 66th minute.
    Brasil leads, while Venezuela edges out Bolivia for 9th on GD.
    Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd]
    1 Brasil 9 3 3 0 0 10 2 8+
    2 Argentina 7 3 2 1 0 4 2 2+
    3 Ecuador 6 3 2 0 1 7 5 2+ (HTH Ecuador 4-2 Uruguay)
    4 Uruguay 6 3 2 0 1 7 5 2+ (HTH Ecuador 4-2 Uruguay) --------------------------------------
    5 Paraguay 5 3 1 2 0 4 3 1+
    --------------------------------------
    6 Chile 4 3 1 1 1 5 4 1+
    7 Colombia 4 3 1 1 1 5 5 0
    8 Peru 1 3 0 1 2 4 8 4-
    9 Venezuela 0 3 0 0 3 0 5 5-
    10 Bolivia 0 3 0 0 3 3 10 7-
    Next round to be played in November 17th. 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):
    Venezuela - Chile (1-4, 0-2, 2-3, 0-1, 0-2, 1-1)
    Venezuela has been quite poor so far while Chile are grinding out the results and could conceivably be in a better position than they are now. I'd give it
    a VEN 1-2 CHI (in soph-terms: Venezuela 0.20, draw 0.30, Chile 0.50)
    Ecuador - Colombia (0-2, 1-0, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0, 0-1)
    Ecuador seems to be on a roll, but then Colombia seemed to be too and crashed against Uruguay... Should be a close one, but I'll give the edge to the hosts, say, 1-0 (in soph-terms: Ecuador 0.40, draw 0.30, Colombia 0.30)
    Uruguay - Brasil (1-4, n/a, 0-4, 1-1, 1-0, n/a)
    And the century old derby rears its head again. Brasil leads, but sleepwalks through the WCQ, having played the bottom three sides so far. Now the challenge raises steeply, as even if El Centenario will be empty, Uruguay actually tries to win when they play Brasil. Brasil's last two visits to Montevideo ended in lopsided victories, but the team has not at all been inspiring expectations for anything similar, even more without Neymar. Uruguay, with Cavani's return and Suarez scoring as usual, should have its guns blazing. Since it's a derby, I'll
    call it evens, maybe a 1-1 draw (soph terms, slight edge to the hosts: Uruguay 0.35, draw 0.35, Brasil 0.30).
    Paraguay - Bolivia (2-1, 4-0, 1-0, 4-1, 5-1, 2-1)
    This is a must win game for Paraguay to keep in touch with the qualifying block,
    at home against the weakest visitor. Bolivia may put up some resistance, but so far they've shown nothing to suggest an upset. Paraguay to win 2-0 (in soph terms,
    Paraguay 0.80, draw 0.15, Bolivia 0.05)
    Peru - Argentina (2-2, 1-1, 1-1, 1-3, 1-2, 0-0)
    I think Argentina has been rather uninspiring to far, even if they are getting the results. But they do have a better team than Peru, nonetheless. Peru will not be a pushover, but I don't think they'll finally find a win in this round. Argentina to a tight 1-0 win (soph terms, Peru 0.25, draw 0.30, Argentina 0.45) --
    Ll|-o
    --- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
    * Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)
  • From HASM@24:150/2 to rec.sport.soccer on Sat Nov 14 05:18:36 2020

    There was a clearer penalty to Paraguay (IMHO) in the second
    half, on a handball by Otamendi, but the ref didn't consider it
    intentional.

    Seems Otamendi, with Benfica, has been giving away PKs, was red carded in
    the Europa League, now potentially a liability for Argentina.

    Wondering how long he will last.

    -- HASM
    --- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
    * Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)
  • From Futbolmetrix@24:150/2 to rec.sport.soccer on Tue Nov 17 15:43:56 2020
    On Friday, November 13, 2020 at 10:21:16 PM UTC-5, Ll|-o wrote:

    Next round to be played in November 17th. 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):
    Some interesting results:

    Venezuela - Chile (1-4, 0-2, 2-3, 0-1, 0-2, 1-1)
    FT: 2-1
    La Vinotinto gets its first win of the cycle.
    Ecuador - Colombia (0-2, 1-0, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0, 0-1)

    Ecuador seems to be on a roll, but then Colombia seemed to be too and crashed
    against Uruguay... Should be a close one,
    erm... 6-1 Ecuador. Germany is not alone.
    Uruguay - Brasil (1-4, n/a, 0-4, 1-1, 1-0, n/a)
    midway through the first half, 0-1. It's been a while that la Celeste has not been able to trip up Brazil...
    --- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
    * Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)