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Sao Paulo, Jan. 28 (BNA) Ecuador wins by one margin of return to the World Cup finals after its 1-1 draw at home with South American qualifiers leaders Brazil on Thursday. Gustavo Alvaro’s team will qualify for Qatar if they beat Peru next week.
Once a powerhouse in the region, Chile saw their chances drastically reduced after a 2-1 loss at home to second-placed Argentina. The Associated Press (AP) reports that the Chileans will have to do well in Bolivia and Brazil, where their last game of the tournament will likely be in Santiago against arch-rivals Uruguay.
Uruguay returned to the competition after a 1-0 victory over Paraguay, with a goal by veteran Luis Suarez. It was the team’s first win for new coach Diego Alonso, who took over after veteran Oscar Tabarez was sent off for poor results.
Brazil (36 points) and Argentina (32) have already qualified for the World Cup. Ecuador has 24 points, five points ahead of Uruguay. Colombia and Peru, who meet in Barranquilla, Colombia, on Friday, have 17 points. Chile has 16 and could be overtaken by Bolivia (15), who will travel to Venezuela – the only team in the region to have come out of the competition for a place.
South America has four direct places in the World Cup, and the fifth-placed team will play an international playoff on a sidewalk.
Ecuador 1, Brazil 1
Ecuador drew at home to Brazil to boost its chances of qualifying in a match that saw players sent off and a number of key refereeing decisions overturned due to video review.
Casemiro opened the scoring with an empty net in the sixth minute for Brazil – who had already qualified for the World Cup in Qatar – before Ecuador equalized in the 75th minute with a Felix Torres header.
But it was Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan who caught the eye by overturning a series of key decisions after the VAR – with Brazil goalkeeper Alisson only receiving a red card twice and disallowing both.
Roldan did not even whistle at a foul when Ecuador goalkeeper Alexandre Dominguez planted his stones in the neck of Brazilian striker Matthews Kona while challenging the ball on the edge of the area in the 16th minute. After a VAR review, Dominguez was shown a straight red card.
Brazil defender Emerson Royal then got a second yellow in the 20th minute and Alisson appeared to become the third player to be sent off after 10 minutes after he also hit an opponent in the head after being sent off. However, Roldan changed his mind and only showed the yellow card after the VAR intervened.
The second half had a similar theme as the Colombian referee awarded two penalties to Ecuador only to reverse the two decisions after a review. The second penalty was in injury time and included Alisson receiving the second yellow ball, which was also overruled.
“I was kicked out of playing for Liverpool, I touched the ball outside the penalty area,” Alisson said. “In situations like this you shouldn’t complain, you should accept the referee’s decision. I’m glad that VAR is now in place. If we don’t, we will be unjustly punished for these situations. In both moments I just went for the ball. And I touched the ball, that’s clear. “.
Brazil was playing without injured star Neymar.
Argentina 2, Chile 1
“The best player in the world didn’t come, our coach didn’t come, we had COVID cases, we spent hours at the airport… and we won,” Argentine winger Angel Di Maria said after the win in Chile. He said more. The game was played at an altitude of about 2,300 meters (1.4 miles) above sea level.
Lionel Messi is recovering from Covid-19 and has not played. But veteran Di Maria caught fire during the first half. He scored the first goal in the ninth minute with a missile from the edge of the penalty area, which made the Chileans even more nervous about Qatar’s loss.
Chile equalized the scoring after 11 minutes with a header from Chilean England striker Ben Brereton, who calmly hit the ball as goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez could not reach it.
Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal for Argentina in the 34th minute to put them calmly in the net after Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo failed to stop Rodrigo de Paul’s shot.
Argentina were less intense in the second half, but Chile failed to score as many chances as they created.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni did not travel to Chile because he was still infected with the Corona virus. Two assistant coaches, Walter Samuel and Roberto Ayala, led the team to the match in Calama.
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