Bolivia ended Brazil’s 11-game winning streak on Sunday with a 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory at high altitude.
Edgar Olivares headed home a corner in the 10th minute and Werder Bremen’s on-loan striker Marcelo Martins doubled the hosts’ advantage at the Hernando Siles Stadium in the 30th by curling a free kick over the defensive wall beyond flat-footed goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Daniel Alves, being tried out by Dunga in midfield, almost pulled one back with a drive from outside the box in the 36th minute that came back off the post. Striker Adriano went for the rebound but scuffed his shot wide.
Brazil finally got on the scoreboard in the 70th minute when Maicon got the ball in the Brazil box, passed out right to Ramires and charged into Bolivian territory where he picked up the midfielder’s ball forward and crossed from the right wing for Nilmar to head in.
Brazil were without star players Kaka and Luis Fabiano as coach Dunga fielded a team of mostly reserves having already qualified for next year’s finals in South Africa.
Brazil, who haven’t won at La Paz since 1997, are level with Paraguay atop South American qualifying with 33 points with one match remaining, against Venezuela tomorrow.
Bolivia’s last win — a 6-1 defeat of Argentina in April — also came at 3,600m, but Bolivia is already out of contention for the 2010 tournament as it sits second-bottom with 15 points. It wraps up qualifying against last-place Peru.
The match could be the last at La Paz as FIFA re-examines whether to bar matches above 2,500m without adequate time preparation.
Brazil are at home to Venezuela, who are all but out of the running for the finals, in their final qualifier tomorrow.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
EL CLASSICO: La Liga champions Real Madrid would face Barcelona in the Super Cup final tomorrow. Barca secured their final spot after a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Wednesday Real Madrid would chase a record-equaling 14th Spanish Super Cup title in the final against Barcelona after second-half goals by Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo helped them to a 3-0 win over Mallorca in the semi-finals on Thursday. England midfielder Bellingham broke the deadlock after the hour mark with a low shot into the middle of the goal before Mallorca defender Martin Valjent’s own goal doubled the lead in stoppage time followed by a Rodrygo strike from close range. Spanish champions Real are to play Barcelona for the trophy tomorrow after goals by Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barca a 2-0 win over
RSS