After a poor start, Colombia got their campaign back on track in dramatic fashion on Tuesday. Following on from their excellent 4 – 0 win against Uruguay on Friday “El cafeteros” turned over Chile 3 – 1 in Santiago.
Colombia’s Falcoa celebrates
Despite going behind just before half-time through Matias Fernandez, Colombia rallied in the second half with goals from Rodriguez, Falcoa and Gutierrez. Both teams finished the match with ten men.
Uruguay eventually managed to scrape a draw against Ecuador, thanks largely to a totally inept refereeing display form Carlos Amarilla. The Ecuadorians had the measure of their hosts for the majority of the game and deservedly went ahead through a Felipe Caicedo penalty in 9 minutes. Edison Cavani restored parity in 67 minutes for Uruguay but not before Ecuador was denied a stone-wall penalty.
Caicedo for Ecuador
Christain Benitez had raced forward upon goal but when he rounded the keeper he was crudely, bundled to the ground. A penalty and goal-keeper red card seemed obvious but the referee opted to book Benitez for diving. To rub salt into their wounds the referee also sent off Ecuador’s captain and talisman Antonio Valencia. The Manchester United winger now automatically misses the next two games.
Chile 1-3 Colombia
Uruguay 1-1 Ecuador
Paraguay 0-2 Venezuela
Peru 1-1 Argentina
Paraguay tumbled to another defeat realistically ending their qualification chances for Brazil 2014. This is all the more surprising with consideration that they have qualified for the last 4 World Cups and improved each time. Salomon Rondon grabbed a gaol either side of half time for Venezuela to earn a precious away win.
In Lima, Peru recorded a credible draw against group favourites Argentina. The hosts had already missed a third minute penalty before took the lead in 22 minutes through Eintracht Frankfurt’s Carlos Zambrano. Argentina’s Higuian got the equalizer just before half-time.
CONMEBAL Qualification table
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Argentina 7 4 2 1 15 6 14
Colombia 7 4 1 2 12 6 13
Ecuador 7 4 1 2 8 7 13
Uruguay 7 3 3 1 15 11 12
Chile 7 4 0 3 12 13 12
Venezuela 8 3 2 3 7 8 11
Peru 7 2 1 4 9 13 7
Bolivia 7 1 1 5 7 12 4
Paraguay 7 1 1 5 5 14 4
This month’s double header results have left Bolivia and Paraguay rooted to the bottom of the table adrift of everyone else. With 4 points separating the top 6 teams and only 4 automatic qualification spots there is all to play for.
Uruguay has suffered the greatest with a 4 – o humbling and a poor home draw and they must improve if they don’t want to slide further down the table. Similarly Chile has lost form after leading the table.
Colombia and Ecuador are the major surprises so far but again next month’s results should tell us much more.
Next month’s CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying fixtures.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2012
Argentina v Uruguay
Bolivia v Peru
Colombia v Paraguay
Ecuador v Chile
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012
Bolivia v Uruguay
Chile v Argentina
Paraguay v Peru
Venezuela v Ecuador
Alistair McLauchlan 