Lionel Messi scored once and set up two goals as Argentina beat Venezuela 3-0 to remain in control of the South American qualifying race for the 2014 World Cup on Friday.
The Argentinian skipper was the architect of two Gonzalo Higuain strikes which came either side of an emphatic Messi penalty on the stroke of halftime at the Monumental Stadium.
The Barcelona superstar was Argentina’s best player throughout, twice forcing Daniel Hernandez into scrambled saves early on, before producing the pass which enabled Higuain to break the deadlock on 29 minutes. Messi then harried Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero into conceding a penalty, which the diminutive playmaker lashed into the roof of the net for 2-0 in first-half stoppage-time.
A trademark jinking run and through ball for Higuain gave Argentina their third in the 59th minute as Venezuela kissed goodbye to any chance of repeating their shock 1-0 win over the Argentines in 2011.
The victory leaves Alejandro Sabella’s side four points clear of second-placed Colombia at the top of the standings with 23 points after 10 matches.
With just six games remaining, only an unthinkable collapse will prevent the Albicelestes from taking their place at next year’s finals in Brazil, with a trip to La Paz to face Bolivia on Tuesday their next game.
In other games on Friday, Colombia remained on course to end their 16-year World Cup exile after sweeping aside Bolivia 5-0 in Barranquilla.
Goals from Macnelly Torres, Carlos Valdez, Teofilo Gutierrez, Radamel Falcao and Pablo Armero secured an easy win as Colombia leapfrogged Ecuador into second place in the standings.
Colombia — who are reveling under the guidance of former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman — now look perfectly poised to reach their first World Cup since 1998.
Barranquilla’s Metropolitano Stadium had rocked before kick-off as the home crowd paid an emotional tribute to former national ’keeper Miguel Calero, who died in December last year aged 41 after suffering a blood clot.
Colombia took the lead on 20 minutes, when Torres tucked away a cross from Juan Cuadrado, fortunate not to be ruled offside.
Colombia doubled their lead shortly after halftime when Bolivia failed to clear a knock-down from Abel Aguilar, which Valdez prodded home.
Gutierrez then made the game safe on 62 minutes, latching onto a through ball from Torres, before steering past Bolivia’s substitute ’keeper Sergio Galarza for 3-0. Falcao and Armero completed the rate late on.
Elsewhere, Uruguay’s hopes of a vital victory against bottom side Paraguay were dashed after they conceded a late equalizer in a bruising game which finished 1-1 in Montevideo.
In Friday’s other match, Jefferson Farfan’s 87th-minute goal lifted hosts Peru to a 1-0 victory over Chile in Lima.
The first four finishers in South America’s round-robin tournament are to qualify automatically for Brazil, with the fifth-placed side facing a playoff against the fifth-placed side from Asia.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care