Three visitor wins, an average of four goals per game, a drought broken in style, samples of poor refereeing, a personal record being set, hard-fought games, six penalties - one of them stopped at time added on. Plus, Conmebol's usual poor decision making process on display again. It may not have been
the best football, indeed it probably shouldn't even have been taking place
at this moment, but this round had its interesting tidbits.
Bolivia 1-2 Argentina
Valuable win for Argentina at Estadio Hernando Siles, in La Paz, their first
in that venue in 15 years. Marcelo Moreno scored for Bolivia, Lautaro Mart|!nez and Correa turned it around for Argentina, who are now joint leaders of the qualifying tournament.
Ecuador 4-2 Uruguay
An emphatic and impressive win by Ecuador. Caicedo, Estrada twice and Plata
put the hosts 4-0 up and two late penalties converted by Su|irez saved a little face for Uruguay, at Estadio Casa Blanca, in Quito. Ecuador broke a streak of 7 straight WCQ losses in style, while Uruguay is left wondering what has hit them.
Venezuela 0-1 Paraguay
Paraguay made most of the play here and came off deserved winners at Estadio Metropolitano de Merida. Venezuela had a goal annulled by VAR on the most marginal handball I've ever seen and, at the 84th minute, Gimenez punished them. The vinotinto would also have a penalty for them at time added on, but Antony Silva raised to the occasion and stopped Herrera's effort.
Poor start for Venezuela, only ahead of Bolivia in goal difference. Paraguay compensated for letting slip a win against Peru at home, and is now in fourth place in the table.
Peru 2-4 Brasil
A night full of goals at Estadio Nacional de Lima and a personal record for Neymar, though I felt the hosts were robbed. They started off on full throttle and scored early, five minutes into the game Marquinhos cleared the ball out
in front of the penalty area and Carrillo sent a stylish shot at Weverton's right corner, out of the keeper's reach. He (Marquinhos) soon had to leave due to injury. Brasil soon found its footing and, in the 27th minute, Neymar had his shirt pulled into the penalty area. He scored from the spot and even added another near the end of the half, though it was annulled due to offsides.
Peru went ahead again in the 58th minute, a shot from Tapia that hit Rodrigo Caio and threw off Weverton completely. Not much later, though, Richarlison equalised again, on a play that took a while to be VAR-validated due to possible offsides.
Then, at the 79th minute there was another penalty call on Neymar - one I'm
not at all convinced that it was anything - and he scored it again himself,
and soon added the fourth. To round it all off, Zambrano was sent off for
an alledged elbow on Richarlison, another decision I found rather iffy. But
so it ended. Peru was brave, while Brasil was not up to its usual form. A
draw would have been a fair result IMHO.
With his hat-trick Neymar reached 64 goals for Brasil (in 103 games), becoming second in the national team's all-time table. Only Pel|- (77 goals in 92 games)
is still ahead of him. If one takes all South American national teams, he is third on the table, also behind Messi (71 goals in 140 games for Argentina). Peru had to withdraw two players for this game, Raul Ruidiaz and Alex Valera, due to Covid. I wonder why, then, the game was held at all, and what does it take for Conmebol to postpone a match in this context.
Chile 2-2 Colombia
Probably the most interesting of the round IMHO, at least from what I could see. First half was back-and-forth, Lerma scored early for Colombia, at the
6th minute, after a cross by Medina. Lerma would kick Vidal inside his penalty area, though, at the 37th minute, and Vidal himself equalised with a nice
shot at the upper right side of Vargas. Soon after that Alexis completed the comeback for the Chileans.
Second half was more about Colombia trying to find a way into Chile's defense, and Chile doggedly resisting their advances. Colombia's pressure paid off near the end of the game, on a shot by Murillo across the penalty area that hit Falcao Garcia and threw off Cort|-s at the 90th minute.
Second time in a row that Chile concedes at the end of the game. Had they had that penalty called for them vs Uruguay, as they claim they should, and avoided conceding this late goal, they could possibly be joint leaders with 6 points. Instead, here they are in 7th with 1. Colombia had its tenacity rewarded (duly IMHO) and is now third.
Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd]
1 Brasil 6 2 2 0 0 9 2 7+
2 Argentina 6 2 2 0 0 3 1 2+
3 Colombia 4 2 1 1 0 5 2 3+
4 Paraguay 4 2 1 1 0 3 2 1+
--------------------------------------
5 Ecuador 3 2 1 0 1 4 3 1+
--------------------------------------
6 Uruguay 3 2 1 0 1 4 5 1-
7 Chile 1 2 0 1 1 3 4 1-
8 Peru 1 2 0 1 1 4 6 2-
9 Venezuela 0 2 0 0 2 0 4 4-
10 Bolivia 0 2 0 0 2 1 7 6-
Next round to be played in November 12th. 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):
Colombia - Uruguay (2-2, 4-0, 0-1, 5-0, 1-0, 3-1)
Looks like a close one, though I'd give an edge to Colombia, who seems to be better organized and in better form. Colombia to win 2-1 (in soph-terms, Colombia 0.45, draw 0.30, Uruguay 0.25).
Brasil - Venezuela (3-1, n/a, 0-0, 3-0, 3-0, n/a)
Clear advantage for Brasil on this one. Don't really see the vinotinto pulling the upset. Brasil to win, say, 3-1. In soph-terms, Brasil 0.90, draw 0.05, Venezuela 0.05.
Bolivia - Ecuador (2-2, 1-1, 1-3, 1-2, 1-5, 2-0)
Good news for Ecuador that (1) the altitude isn't at all an issue to them and (2) this is a very poor Bolivian side, even by their (BOL) standards, all due respect. All the better for Ecuador if they can get on a roll after their strong win over Uruguay. I'll make it a 2-0 win for La Tri (soph-terms: Bolivia 0.20, draw 0.30, Ecuador 0.50).
Argentina - Paraguay (0-1, 3-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-1)
Cagey one for Argentina. They are clearly the better side, but Paraguay are no slouches. Usually an even fixture, I think Argentina gets a tight win, 1-0. In soph-terms, Argentina 0.50, draw 0.25, Paraguay 0.25.
Chile - Peru (2-1, 4-2, 2-0, 2-1, 1-1, 4-0)
The Superclasico del Pac|!fico should be an interesting one. Both sides, although
they have their limitations, also seem to have been held back by poor luck and adverse refereeing in these opening rounds. It feels like both could have been doing better, maybe punching a bit above their perceived weights. I think (hope,
actually) that they'll come hungry for this one, not only due to derby considerations.
I'd call a Chilean win, but without fans in the stadium it's up for grabs really.
Will call it a 1-1 draw. In soph-terms, Chile 0.30, draw 0.40, Peru 0.30.
--
Ll|-o
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: SportNet Gateway Site (24:150/2)