(R/T) Conmebol WCQ'22, Round 1
From
Leonardo Moura@24:150/2 to
rec.sport.soccer on Fri Oct 9 20:50:36 2020
Paraguay 2-2 Peru
Honours split even at Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunci||n. All goals came in the second half: Carrillo scored first at the 51st minute, Angel Romero pulled two back (66th and 80th) and Carrillo again, at the 84th,
saved the day for the visitors. On paper a good result for Peru, who took
good advantage of the opportunity of visiting Defensores without their fans present.
Uruguay 2-1 Chile
Old guard still at it in Estadio Centen|irio, Montevideo. Luis Su|irez scored from the spot, at the 38th minute, Alexis Sanchez equalised at the 53rd. Chileans complained a lot about a non-referee-reviewed penalty claim at the 87th minute, a cross into the penalty area that his the arm of an Uruguayan defender. Of course, a few minutes later Maxi Gomez scored the winner for Uruguay, denying Chile even a single point.
Argentina 1-0 Ecuador
A poor, sleep-inducing game I thought at La Bombonera, in Buenos Aires, as Argentina beat Ecuador 1-0, with a goal by Messi from a penalty kick. In
the 12th minute, Messi played a through ball to Ocampos that seemed destined
to go out of bounds in the endline, but Estupi|#an wiped out the Argentinian forward with his tackle (apparently aimed at the ball) and the ref pointed
to the spot. Although there was little action in either end, Argentina was always in control and made 'Dida' Dominguez work quite a bit more than Armani. Colombia 3-0 Venezuela
An Atalanta-powered victory by the cafeteros at Estadio Metropolitano, in Barranquilla. Colombia settled the deal in the first half already, with two goals by Muriel and one by Zapata. The bad news for the hosts, though, was
that side-back Santiago Arias suffered a broken ankle and will be out of
action for a while.
Brasil 5-0 Bolivia
A walk in the park for Brasil at Arena Corinthians, in S|uo Paulo. It really looked like a training drill, by the 15th minute Brasil had exchanged 118 passes to Bolivia's... 3. Marquinhos and Firmino scored in the first half, Firmino again then Rodrygo and Coutinho settled it in the second half. Bolivia, who left in La Paz four of their five foreign-based players to prepare for
the next round (against Argentina), was shockingly poor, and didn't have the strenght to even put up the slightest fight. Playing like this, not even the altitude of La Paz will do much of anything for them.
Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd]
1 Brasil 3 1 1 0 0 5 0 5+
2 Colombia 3 1 1 0 0 3 0 3+
3 Uruguay 3 1 1 0 0 2 1 1+
4 Argentina 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 1+
5 Paraguay 1 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
Peru 1 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
7 Chile 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 1-
8 Ecuador 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1-
9 Venezuela 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 3-
10 Bolivia 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 5-
Next round to be played in October 13th. In brackets below, the results of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2014/2010/2006/2002/1998 (all the round
robin ones so far):
Bolivia - Argentina (2-0, 1-1, 6-1, 1-2, 3-3, 2-1)
In other epochs this would be one hell of a hurdle for Argentina, due to the usual reasons. But Bolivian football is in a deep crisis nowadays, with their FA and clubs politically divided, players not released or withdrawn, all this in the middle of this accursed pandemic. Maybe their standard isn't really what they've shown today, somewhat understrenght, against Brasil (in fact,
for their own sake one hopes it isn't!), but regardless, they are in a very fragile moment right now. Argentina wasn't exactly awe-inspiring in their debut, but what matters are the three points and they seem well-posed to get them. I say Argentina will struggle, because of the altitude, but eventually win 1-0 (in soph-terms, though, it should be a close one. I'll make it Bolivia 0.30, draw 0.35, Argentina 0.35)
Ecuador - Uruguay (2-1, 1-0, 1-2, 0-0, 1-1, 4-0)
Another game that, in the past, has been usually tougher for the Rioplatense visitor. The altitude should pose its usual challenge to Uruguay, in Quito,
but they'll face a disjointed host. Gustavo Alfaro, who took over Ecuador three months ago, didn't even know all his players in his first call-up, having to count on the help of his staff to fill the squad sheet. Things could have been worse in their debut, but they didn't play well anyway. Let's see what they have to bring on to the Uruguayos, and how much of a fuel the altitude will be for them. For a prediction, I'll also make it a thin 1-0 to Uruguay (and, in soph-terms, the same as above: Ecuador 0.30, draw 0.30, Uruguay 0.40) Venezuela - Paraguay (0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 0-1, 3-1, 0-2)
Don't really know what to say about this one, other than it should be close
I suppose? Venezuela started poorly, but facing one of the better teams, while Paraguay did about as averagely as one probably should expect from them. History
shows that Paraguay travels well to Venezuela, fwiw. I'll call it an 1-1 tie (in
soph-terms, Venezuela 0.30, draw 0.40, Paraguay 0.30).
Peru - Brasil (0-2, n/a, 1-1, 1-1, 0-1, n/a)
A reedition of the last Copa America final (and, fwiw, after Copa America they played a friendly in the US, Peru won 1-0). Although not really tested in their opener, the visitors are clearly the better team. Peru did show strenght to pull
one back to Paraguay when they were losing, but then they had allowed the guaran|!
comeback in the first place... Without fans at Estadio Nacional de Lima, I think
Brasil can find a 2-0 win (soph-terms: Peru 0.20, draw 0.20, Brasil 0.60). Chile - Colombia (1-1, 1-3, 4-0, 0-0, 0-1, 4-1)
Tough luck for Chile they'll face a good Colombian team without the support
of their crowd, at Estadio Nacional in Santiago. Still, they seem to be good enough to put up a good fight. I'll call it a draw, with a slight edge to
the visitors due to the abscence of fans. 1-1. (in soph-terms, Chile 0.30,
draw 0.30, Colombia 0.40).
--
Ll|-o
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)