Brazil and Argentina were held to draws on Wednesday and Chile climbed to fourth place in the standings in the latest South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
Brazil were booed off the pitch after being held to a scoreless home draw by 10-man Bolivia, while Argentina conceded an equalizer in the final seconds to draw 1-1 in Peru.
Chile crushed Colombia 4-0 while Uruguay were held 0-0 at home by Ecuador.
PHOTO: AFP
Wednesday’s results left Brazil, Argentina and Chile all on 13 points, behind leaders Paraguay on 17.
Uruguay are fifth on 12 points, two ahead of Colombia with Ecuador a point further back.
Peru and Bolivia’s impressive draws on Wednesday were not enough to lift them from second and third bottom of the standings ahead of Venezuela in last place.
Disappointed with Brazil’s lackluster play, fans jeered the team throughout the match.
Despite playing with Ronaldinho, Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano and new Manchester City signing Robinho in attack, Brazil rarely threatened.
Bolivia relied solely on counterattacks and surprisingly had a couple of good chances.
Brazil failed to improve even after Bolivia defender Ignacio Garcia was harshly sent off in the 57th minute.
Peru scored in stoppage time to secure a dramatic 1-1 home draw against Argentina, extending the visitors’ winless streak in qualifying to five games.
Peru scored in the final seconds of the match as Juan Vargas charged up the left wing and delivered a cross to striker Johan Fano, who directed the ball past Argentina’s goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo.
Esteban Cambiasso had put Argentina ahead in the 82nd minute, converting a cross from Fernando Gago.
Chile’s big win came off a 3-0 drubbing from Brazil on Sunday.
The Chileans scored twice in each half with defender Gonzalo Jara notching the first goal in the 25th minute and striker Humberto Suazo making it 2-0 in the 38th.
Defender Ismael Fuentes knocked in a rebound for the third after a corner by Matias Fernandez, who completed the scoring by netting the fourth.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
BOOT TO FACE: Wilfried Singo said that his actions were not intentional, ‘but I was able to see afterwards that’ the ’keeper had a significant face injury Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday came from behind to extend their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win away against AS Monaco, but lost goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to a gruesome facial injury. The bloodied Italy international was left requiring 10 staples after sustaining lacerations to the right side of his face when he was caught by the studs of Monaco defender Wilfried Singo. “I don’t know if the referee was badly positioned, but VAR [video assistant referee] needed to intervene, you have to protect the players,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “To not give a red in a situation like
India’s chess star Gukesh Dommaraju returned to a hero’s welcome in his home city yesterday after becoming the youngest world champion aged only 18. Hundreds of fans crowded the arrivals area of Chennai International Airport, cheering alongside banks of television cameras as Gukesh made his way out of the airport after victory in taking the World Chess Championship title. “It means a lot to bring back the trophy to India,” Gukesh told reporters, with garlands of flowers draped around his neck, brandishing the glittering trophy in his hand. “I can see the support and what it means to India, I
Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday joined Max Verstappen on stage when the Red Bull driver collected the Formula One champion’s trophy for the fourth year in a row at a ceremony held in Africa for the first time. The 27-year-old was handed the trophy by International Automobile Federation president Mohammed Ben Sulayem alongside Kagame, who had earlier spoken at the gala in Kigali of Rwanda bidding to host a race. Verstappen, who is one of only six drivers to have won four or more titles since the championship started in 1950, said he was proud of his season and everyone in
RSS