The 33-year-old Juventus player, however, was lucky to be on the pitch, having escaped with a yellow card after a reckless lunge on an opponent in the first half.
Colombia also needed a headed goal from a defender, Mario Yepes of Paris St Germain giving them a 1-0 home win over Bolivia in Barranquilla.
Colombia moved up to sixth with 13 points while Bolivia, who have 10, have begun to lose touch with the pack.
China crashes out
China were sent crashing out of the 2006 World Cup by the narrowest of margins on Wednesday after a 7-0 thrashing of Hong Kong was not enough to stop rivals Kuwait pipping them at the post.
Trailing Kuwait on goal difference heading into the final round of Group Four fixtures, China had needed a big win in Guangzhou to have any chance of reaching next year's final qualifying round.
But Kuwait's 6-1 drubbing of Malaysia in Kuwait City scuppered China's dream of reaching the World Cup finals for a second time following their debut appearance at the 2002 tournament.
Kuwait's victory left them with an identical goal difference to China of plus 13. But the Gulf side advanced to the final round of qualifying by virtue of having scored one goal more, 15 to China's 14.
China's humiliating exit spelt an end to the reign of coach Arie Haan, a member of the famous "Total Football" Netherlands teams of the 1970s who took over in the wake of the 2002 World Cup.
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