Argentina clinched a berth in next year's World Cup beating archrival Brazil 3-1 behind two goals from striker Hernan Crespo on Wednesday.
Crespo scored in the third and 39th minutes, and Juan Roman Riquelme added another in the 18th in a showdown between the two powerhouses, winners of seven World Cups.
Roberto Carlos scored Brazil's goal in the 71st.
PHOTO: AFP
Argentina, World Cup winners in 1978 and 1986, qualified for its ninth straight Cup.
It stretched its lead of the 10-team South American qualifying group to 31 points after 15 rounds, with defending champion Brazil second on 27. Ecuador third with 23, followed by Paraguay at 22. Three rounds remain.
Argentina dominated this latest chapter in the storied rivalry, as Brazil played without star striker Ronaldo, who scored three goals against Argentina in their previous qualifier, but was released from the team at his request for personal reasons.
PHOTO: AFP
Crespo opened the scoring three minutes after the opening whistle, collecting a pass from Luis Gonzalez to beat goalkeeper Dida with a low shot.
Argentine playmaker Riquelme made it 2-0 in the 17th, receiving the ball with his back to goal before turning to beat his defender and launch a left-footed blast from outside the area. The midfielder at Spain's Villarreal celebrated by running over to Argentina's bench and hugging teammate Pablo Aimar and kissing his own jersey.
Argentina kept up the pressure through the first half, controlling most of the possession with nifty passing and movement, eliciting chants of "Ole! Ole!" from happy fans at Monumental stadium in downtown Buenos Aires.
PHOTO: AP
In the 39th, with Brazil slow to react defensively, Riquelme played a short pass off a corner kick to Javier Saviola, who sent a lofting chip pass that Crespo headed in -- his seventh goal in qualifying for next year's tournament.
But the five-time champions came out in the second half looking to make amends.
Roberto Carlos sent a bending free kick into the upper corner of the goal in the 71st, foreshadowing a flurry of Brazilian attacks.
PHOTO: EPA
Adriano had two goal scoring opportunities in the final 15 minutes, putting a header just over the crossbar and hitting the post with a low driving shot.
After the final whistle, Argentina's players gathered in a circle at midfield, hugging each other and jumping in place to celebrate.
Argentina's victory evened the series between the two teams, now at 33-33-24.
In 2002, Argentina was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Also on Wednesday, Colombia rolled over visiting Ecuador 3-0, Paraguay bounced back at home from a heavy defeat to Brazil by pounding Bolivia 4-1, and host Chile held off Venezuela 2-1.
After crunching Peru 5-0 on Saturday, Colombia has scored eight goals without conceding any in four days, indicating the rapid turnaround in fortune under former under-20 coach Reinaldo Rueda, who was appointed in January. Since then, the team has won twice, drawn once, and lost to Argentina 1-0, but more importantly returned to qualifying contention.
Paraguay returned home to Asuncion from a 4-1 spanking to Brazil to hand out the same punishment to Bolivia.
Carlos Gamarra's early header was quickly tied by Gonzalo Galindo's 25m blast for Bolivia, but Roque Santa Cruz broke the deadlock, and Julio Cesar and Jorge Nunez completed the rout before 17,000 happy fans at Defensores del Chaco stadium.
Chile stayed in the finals hunt and all but extinguished Venezuela's hopes in a comfortable 2-1 win in Santiago.
Luis Jimenez scored both of Chile's goals both sides of halftime, and Venezuela couldn't score until Ruberth Moran's header eight minutes from the end.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea claimed all four of Asia's guaranteed berths in the World Cup's 32-team field on Wednesday, each posting shutout victories to become the first nations to join host Germany.
A pair of goals in the final 17 minutes lifted Japan to a 2-0 victory over North Korea in an empty stadium in Bangkok, and defender Mohammad Nosrati scored two minutes into the second half to give Iran a 1-0 victory over Bahrain before a capacity crowd of 100,000 in Tehran.
South Korea earned a sixth straight appearance in soccer's quadrennial championship with a 4-0 victory over Kuwait. Saudi Arabia assured itself of a fourth straight berth with a 3-0 win over Uzbekistan.
The only drama remaining in Asia was a possible fifth berth. Bahrain will play either Kuwait or Uzbekistan for a meeting against a CONCACAF team for another place in Germany next year.
The results gave Iran 13 points and Japan 12 atop Asia's Group B with a game to play, and also secured third place for Bahrain.
In Group B, Saudi Arabia climbed to 11 points, one better than South Korea. Kuwait has four and Uzbekistan has two.
Kuwait will travel to Uzbekistan on Aug. 17 in the final group match for both.
Atsushi Yanagisawa gave Japan the lead in the 73rd minute and substitute Masashi Oguro added the insurance in the 88th minute for Japan, which needed only a draw to clinch its third straight trip to the World Cup.
The match was moved from the Pyongyang to Bangkok under orders of FIFA, a penalty for North Korea after its fans rioted following a World Cup qualifying loss to Iran in the North Korean capital in March.
The absence of fans in Thailand's Supachalasai Stadium was matched by a general lack of intensity on the field.
In Tehran, Nosrati scored the winner for the three-time Asian champion with a header off a cross from midfielder Fereidoun Zandi. Bahrain played without injured attacker Mohammed Salmeen, and Iran was missing suspended defender Rahman Rezaei.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and several other top government officials were among the spectators in the packed house at Azadi stadium.
The victory sparked celebrations across Iran within seconds of the final whistle.
Scores of fans took to the streets whistling and dancing and drivers began honking their horns and flashing their headlights.
In some parts of the capital, people bought sweets and then gave them away to passers-by.
Andriy Shevchenko is one victory away from a first appearance at the World Cup.
Shevchenko's Ukraine won 1-0 at European champion Greece on Wednesday. Now a victory over Georgia in its next game on Sept. 3 will mean that the former Soviet republic will be the first European nation to make it, too.
"It was a big win for us. We're 99.9 percent in Germany," said Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin, who played at the 1982 and '86 World Cups for the Soviet Union. His team leads the Group 2 standings by seven points with three games to go.
While the World Cup is nothing new for Blokhin, a standout striker of the early 1980s, it would be a major boost for Shevchenko, the modern day equivalent.
The striker has helped AC Milan win titles in Italy and Europe. But the club failed twice this season, losing the Serie A title race to Juventus in the final few games, and throwing away a 3-0 halftime lead to Liverpool in the Champion League final to lose on penalties in Istanbul.
Reaching the World Cup will make up for all that.
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