Argentina remained five points clear atop the South American World Cup qualifying standings despite being held to a 0-0 home draw by Colombia on Friday.
Argentina improved to 25 points from 12 matches, comfortably clear of Colombia and Ecuador, who both have 20 points from 11 games.
Ecuador missed a chance to close the gap by losing 1-0 away to Peru.
Photo: AFP
Chile took sole possession of fourth place in the standings — the final automatic qualifying place for Brazil next year — by winning 2-1 at bottom team Paraguay, while Venezuela are fifth after a 0-0 draw at Bolivia.
Argentina’s top player, Lionel Messi, entered the game as a 57th-minute substitute. The Barcelona star has an injured right hamstring muscle and missed the final three weeks of the Spanish league season.
Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain and Cristian Zapata of Colombia were sent off on straight red cards in the 26th for getting into a tussle.
“We had lots of possession and they had chances to score,” Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina said, describing an evenly played match.
Chile’s Eduardo Vargas put the visitors ahead against Paraguay in the 41st minute and Juventus striker Arturo Vidal doubled the advantage in the 56th.
Experienced striker Roque Santa Cruz pulled back a goal for Paraguay in the 88th minute, but the hosts could not find an equalizer.
With only four qualifiers to play, Paraguay’s chances of qualifying for Brazil seem all but over.
Venezuela would have stayed level on points with Chile, but conceded a late equalizer to hosts Bolivia in their 1-1 draw in the thin air of La Paz.
Venezuela took a 1-0 lead through Juan Arango’s goal in the 58th minute, but Bolivia’s Jhasmany Campos hit the equalizer in the 86th.
Despite the disappointment of conceding a late equalizer, the away point boosted Venezuela’s chances of securing at least fifth place, and the intercontinental playoff place for a spot at next year’s World Cup.
Venezuela are the only South American team never to have played in soccer’s main event.
Peru’s veteran forward Claudio Pizarro scored in the 12th minute and the home team held that advantage for the rest of the game to beat Ecuador.
Peru moved up to sixth in the standings, two points behind Venezuela, in the race for the all-important fifth place.
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