Uruguay made a dominant start and Argentina also notched a win when South America's World Cup qualifying tournament kicked off on Saturday.
Uruguay crushed Bolivia 5-0, a Juan Roman Riquelme brace gave Argentina a 2-0 win over Chile and Venezuela caused the first upset by winning 1-0 away in Ecuador. Peru and Paraguay played out a scoreless draw. Colombia were to host Brazil yesterday.
Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan, Sebastian Abreu, Vicente Sanchez and Carlos Buenos all scored for two-time World Cup champions Uruguay as the race began for a place at South Africa 2010.
Suarez gave the hosts the lead in the fourth minute at the Centenario with a right-footed shot. Forlan made it 2-0 in the 37th with a firmly hit shot.
Bolivia's hopes of stemming the tide suffered when Ronald Garcia was sent off four minutes before half time. Abreu scored Uruguay's third goal off a rebound inside the area just two minutes into the second half.
Sanchez scored in the 65th and Bueno added another in the 82nd.
Uruguay visits Paraguay on Wednesday, while Bolivia hosts Colombia.
In Buenos Aires, Riquelme scored free-kicks in the 26th and 45th minutes in Argentina's victory.
The Villareal playmaker placed precise shots past goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to the left upper corner of the net each time.
"For us it was important to begin the series by winning. The team is playing well right now and we deservedly won," Riquelme said. "We are happy with how we are playing ... I believe we are capable of continue to win this way."
Chile exerted heavy early pressure, closely marking forwards Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, limiting their effectiveness.
And Chile came close to scoring, first off the boot of Arturo Vidal in the fourth minute and again in the 15th off a powerful kick by Humberto Suazo. On both occasion, Argentine goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri blocked clear chances at goals.
Argentine started to power up as Tevez threatened in the area after a pass from Riquelme in the first period that he just couldn't capitalize on. Maxi Rodriguez also had another scoring chance in the 31st minute, his shot sizzling just wide of the left upright.
Chile's veteran striker Marcelo Salas came on at halftime and soon had a scoring chance four minutes into the half but was called offside as he approached Abbondanzieri in a one-on-one situation.
In the 54th minute, Cristian Alvarez was sent off, but Chile continued attacking, with Suazo and Salas threatening the Argentine net.
Argentina will play its next match Tuesday against Venezuela in Maracaibo while Chile welcomes Peru in Santiago in its upcoming match next week.
In Quito, Venezuela won away at a sluggish Ecuador thanks to a 77th minute freekick by Jose Manuel Rey.
Ecuador tired after missing clear shots in the first half. Forward Cristian Benitez failed to cash in on two good opportunities early in the match.
Ecuador reached the second round in last year's World Cup in Germany, but were eager to redeem themselves after a first-round exit at the Copa America in June and July, while Venezuela are chasing a first ever World Cup appearance.
In Lima, aside from one shot by Peru forward Claudio Pizarro, blocked by goalkeeper Justo Villar in the 17th minute, Paraguay's solid defense gave Peru few scoring chances.
Paraguay dominated the second half but were unable to score. Forward Nelson Haedo had a clumsy shot saved and was replaced by Oscar Cardozo for pain in his right shoulder.
Peru next face Chile in Santiago on Oct. 17, when Paraguay host Uruguay.
Former European champions Celtic exited the UEFA Champions League in the qualifiers after a 3-2 penalty shoot-out defeat at Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty on Tuesday, following two goalless legs in the playoff tie. Kairat are to compete in the competition proper for the first time, while Norway’s Bodo/Glimt and Cyprus’s Pafos also secured debut appearances after coming through the playoffs. Celtic’s night ended in disappointment as they missed three penalties in the shoot-out, Daizen Maeda failing with the decisive spot-kick. The slugfest of a match went into extra-time with neither side finding the net and few overall chances, echoing the first
Rangers on Wednesday bowed out of the UEFA Champions League playoffs with a humiliating 6-0 defeat at the hands of Club Brugge which piles further pressure on head coach Russell Martin, while SL Benfica secured a place in the competition proper at the expense of Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. The Glasgow giants traveled to Belgium right up against it after losing 3-1 at home in last week’s first leg, when they conceded three times in the opening 20 minutes. They never looked like turning the tie around as Club Brugge took the lead inside five minutes at the Jan Breydelstadion through Nicolo Tresoldi
Noah Lyles on Thursday warmed up for the upcoming athletics world championships by chasing down Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo to win the 200m at the Diamond League final. Lyles trailed Tebogo at the start, but gradually erased the deficit over the final 100m and pipped the Botswana sprinter to the line by centimeters. Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion and reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m, clocked 19.74 seconds in a slight headwind. Tebogo was 0.02 seconds behind. It was Lyles’ sixth Diamond League title, a record for track athletes. “Six, that’s a big number,” Lyles said. “Shoot, that’s another record on
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RSS