SA Blog Number 8: CONMEBOL World Cup Weekend

13th October 2009

This past weekend saw the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers enter its penultimate set of fixtures, and boy were football fans in for a treat!

What we knew before
Brazil and Paraguay had already qualified. Peru and Bolivia had no chance. Argentina needed to beat Peru to keep their hopes alive. Colombia needed to beat Chile to stand a fighting chance, whilst a win for Chile would confirm their presence in South Africa next year. Venezuela had a mathematical chance, but not a realistic one and the winners of Ecuador vs Uruguay would be in charge of their own destiny come the last day. Got that?! I hope so, because I nearly confused myself for a moment!

How it all unfolded…

Colombia 2-4 Chile

The inspirational Marcelo Bielsa took his Chile side to Medellin, Colombia, knowing that a win there would seal 3rd spot and a place amongst international football´s high rollers once again. They didn´t get off to the best start though – going one down on 12 minutes due to an own goal from Vidal, although he wasn´t entirely to blame, an awful goalkeeping error from Bravo - (similar to the one by Ben Foster in the Manchester derby recently) didn´t help matters for the Chileans.

Half an hour in and Mati Fernandez suffered an injury – his replacement was a certain Jorge Valdivia. In the 31st minute, Chile were awarded a free kick about 25 yards out, to the right side of the pitch. Valdivia swung in a teasing ball and Waldo Ponce managed to outfox the Colombian backline and nod the ball past the despairing Ospina. Chile were level. Barely a minute later, Valdivia was involved in a goal scoring move again, this time his threaded pass found Fabian Orellana, who in turn crossed for Humberto Suazo, whose header - handed Chile the lead. Their lead lasted until the 62nd minute – when substitute Giovanni Moreno managed to connect well with a high loose ball after a scramble in Chile´s penalty box, his powerful effort making it 2-2.

The hosts´ hopes were handed a blow when, 9 minutes later, the magical Valdivia put Chile ahead with a composed finish. Then, with 12 minutes remaining, Orellana dealt Colombian hopes a killer punch with a quite fantastic finish, lifting the ball over the oncoming Ospina and into the waiting net.

‘I´m very happy, more than anything else because the players have been completely faithful to what we´ve been trying to do. This is the time to remember all the people that are here and the ones that aren´t, all the people who have formed part of this process. All of them have been very important in us qualifying and we´re very happy, not just about getting there but about how we got there.’ – Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa

Colombia once again have failed to make the grade in qualifying for football´s premier international tournament, their reliance and insistence on a style that consists of physical strength, speed and power has evidently failed to produce when faced by sides who boast players more technically able. There’s a lot of work to be done for a nation that has the second largest population in South America, sure they have a few shining stars, but collectively, they can barely muster a spark - never mind a light.

Argentina 2-1 Peru

The ongoing soap opera that is Argentine International football continued on Saturday night with the visit of Peru, who boasted an away record reading 8 games played; 8 lost; 2 goals scored and 24 conceded. What followed was an incredible game – it had everything! Bribe claims, bad weather, bad tempers, and of course: bizarre decisions. According to Maradona there was even enough room for a bit of ‘divine intervention’.

Argentina had most of the possession and carved out a few early chances but only one that was clear cut which fell to debutant Gonzalo Higuain. Di Maria showed good pace to beat his marker and delivered a ball to the near post where Pipita was loitering, however, the striker fluffed his lines, somehow managing to miss when it looked easier to score. Peru continued to create very little, but still managed to hold steady as the first half went on.

Half time came and instead of steadying the ship, Maradona made some, now customary, bizarre changes. The fragile Argentine backline desperately needed to push up and press the issue but Maradona ignored this. He decided instead to take off Perez, which may have been a good decision, but replacing him was Martin Palermo. A midfielder for a striker, creating an unbalance in the midfield. The brilliant Vargas was Peru´s main outlet in this game, with his wonderful left foot threatening to cause havoc in the Argentine defence, and with the midfield unbalanced, he had more room to inflict damage. Shortly afterwards, Maradona´s men were in front though. Pablo Aimar, playing the enganche role, cut inside and with a slick through ball, found Gonzalo Higuaín in the inside right channel. Higuain took his time, looked across at the linesman, and finished confidently with his right foot to score a goal on his long awaited competitive international debut.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Maradona took off goalscorer Higuain and replaced him with Demichelis, with the Bayern defender playing as an emergency right back. Looking to take advantage of such a change – Peru looked to attack more frequently. Even without star players Pizzaro, Guerrero and Farfan the away side were now outplaying the hosts. Panic spread throughout the Argentine side and they lost the ball time after time. As the game went on, the weather conditions worsened, torrential rain and gale force winds reduced the quality of play. Just as the game was about to tick over into stoppage time, the inevitable arrived. Peru capitalised on some woeful defending from Argentina and struck panic into their hopes of world cup qualification with a deserved equaliser from Rengifo. At that moment, Maradona and his side were in 6th position and out of the running, the ultimate humiliation. Mascherano will look back in retrospect and wonder just what he was attempting to do as he gave away possession in his own area during the build up to the Peruvian equaliser.

And then, in the fourth minute of added time, “Saint Martin” popped up inside the box to send the home crowd, the home players, and Maradona absolutely mental. El Diego “did a Klinsmann” and dived across a soaking wet playing surface in a display of ecstasy, the rest of the side bundled Palermo. Within minutes, the despair and impending humiliation had turned into celebration. Maradona had transformed from a grumpy, frowning Dot Cotton into a overjoyed child at Christmas. Argentina had gone for it and their got their reward. As if this wasn´t enough, straight from the resulting kick off Peru tried to lob Romero – the ball hitting the crossbar, then, just to complete the night, Peru had an excellent shout for a penalty turned down by René Ortubé the referee, as he blew for full time a split second after the challenge.Palermo had won the game for Argentina and Maradona had his lifeline. Everything that could have gone his way, had, including results from elsewhere. How long he will last is not clear but one thing is for sure, he can´t ride his luck for much longer.

Palermo was on cloud nine, “To be honest I never thought I´d experience something like this again. It was hard to think clearly when it was raining so hard and desperation had taken over. This is a reward for all of my hard work, it´s one of the happiest days of my life," said the man of the moment, his eyes red from tears of joy and relief. "Men cry too, of course they do. We suffered so much, it was so emotional. A goal like that needs to be experienced and really felt,"
 
"What happened today was incredible and I can only hope that Argentinian fans will now finally have found a place for me in their hearts," he went on to say before switching his mind to Wednesday´s clash against rivals Uruguay in Montevideo. "What really matters is what happens in Uruguay. It´s going to be another final and we have to go over there and play for our lives."
His strike set up a historic clash in Montevideo on Wednesday, where victory for either side will see World Cup qualification.

Ecuador 1-2 Uruguay

Elsewhere on Saturday night, the two other sides involved in the battle for the coveted fourth spot, Ecuador and Uruguay, met in Quito where La Celeste had their own bit of divine intervention, as a 94th minute Diego Forlan penalty gave them the win. With neither side able to find an opening in the first half, the deadlock was broken by Antonio Valencia. The Manchester United winger gave the hosts the lead with just over 20 minutes to go with a header from close range. However, Uruguay replied instantly through forward Luis Suarez when the in-form Ajax forward coolly finished a Diego Forlan cross. Ecuador had far more of the ball but it was Uruguay who had the greater goal threat. With full time drawing near, Uruguay were awarded a dubious penalty as Cavani was adjudged to have been fouled by goalkeeper Eligaza. The brave Forlan stepped up and expertly converted the penalty, sending the ball high into the top corner. Defeat for Ecuador means they must now beat Chile on Wednesday for a play-off spot against either Honduras or Costa Rica.

Venezuela 1-2 Paraguay

Over at the Estadio Cachamay, in Puerto Ordaz, Paraguay managed to overcome a spirited Venezuela side. Following a hard fought first half, it was the away side who took the lead ten minutes after the break when Salvador Cabanas smashed home after some good work by Osvaldo Martinez. As the game progressed it was Cabanas who took centre stage as he has so often done for Paraguay throughout this qualifying campaign. There was just over ten minutes left on the clock when Paraguay doubled their lead with a counter attack that ripped the home side to shreds. Edgar Benitez combined with Oscar Cardozo and the Benfica forward slotted it in. Just a few minutes later and Venezuela were awarded a penalty - but Fedor missed it. Then, two minutes afterwards, Rondon collected a mid-range free-kick on his chest with his back to goal, displaying immense control, he turned and struck a consolation goal for the hosts.

Bolivia 2-1 Brazil

The final game of the weekend was played on Sunday, as Carlos Dunga´s Brazil faced Bolivia up there in La Paz. The seleção were looking to keep their impressive unbeaten record intact, but were undone in the altitude as they fell to a 2-1 defeat. The home side went in front thanks to an early goal from Edgar Olivares who headed home from a corner after 10 minutes. Olivares took advantage of some uncharacteristically poor marking from Brazil and unusually poor positioning by Inter Milan keeper Julio Cesar. Bolivia´s lead was doubled on the half hour mark when Marcelo Moreno (Bolivian born but raised in Brazil) sent in a free kick, which went in via the aid of a deflection that completely wrong footed Cesar. Brazil struck back through a Nilmar a header on 69 minutes when Maicon burst down the right and crossed for the Villarreal forward to apply the finish. There was enough time for the home side to create a few more chances too, Rivero missed the best of the bunch, heading just wide from a long range free kick. Bolivia had done enough to get the win.

What we know now
Chile return to the world elite after Marcelo Bielsa´s men cemented 3rd spot with victory over Colombia in Medellin; we haven´t seen them compete at a World Cup since France ´98. Colombia themselves shall sit out again, they lie 8th with only a game left and have no chance of making South Africa. Their failure to reach a World Cup now stretches to over a decade. Ecuador must now beat Chile on Wednesday to make sure of a play-off place against either Honduras or Costa Rica from CONCACAF. Martin Palermo’s late winner for Argentina, coupled with a late Diego Forlan penalty for Uruguay in Medellin, means the oldest derby in South American football will be taking place in Montevideo on Wednesday with even more importance than usual. Whoever wins, shall take the prize. What´s the prize? The prize is 4th place in the CONMEBOL group and an automatic spot in next year´s World Cup in South Africa.
 

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