Real Madrid star James Rodriguez returned to snatch a draw for Colombia against Chile on Thursday, while Argentina and Brazil’s long-awaited FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifying clash was postponed by torrential rain.
Rodriguez, who missed Colombia’s opening two World Cup qualifiers last month through injury, pounced in the 68th minute to help give his team a precious point in a 1-1 draw with the Copa America champions in Santiago.
Chile, who dominated possession for long periods, but struggled to break down a disciplined Colombia defense, had taken the lead on the stroke of halftime through a headed Arturo Vidal effort.
Photo: AFP
In other games on Thursday, surprise package Ecuador defeated Uruguay 2-1 to maintain their 100 percent start to the qualifying campaign after three matches.
Ecuador, shock winners over Argentina in Buenos Aires last month, secured all three points through Fidel Martinez’s second-half winner.
Uruguay, missing suspended superstar Luis Suarez — still serving a ban for his infamous bite at the 2014 World Cup finals — struggled to contain a vibrant Ecuador side, comfortable in the challenging thin Andean air of Quito, about 2,800m above sea level.
Ecuador took the lead on 23 minutes through Felipe Caicedo, the RCD Espanyol striker coolly tucking away a low cross from Juan Paredes on the right flank, but Uruguay leveled four minutes after halftime through returning striker Edinson Cavani, the Paris Saint-Germain forward heading home from Nicolas Lodeiro’s perfectly flighted free-kick.
However, Ecuador regained the lead only 10 minutes later through an opportunistic strike from Martinez.
Swansea City forward Jefferson Montero was the catalyst, cutting in purposefully from the left flank and unleashing a fierce low shot toward Fernando Muslera. Muslera could only parry into the path of Martinez, who jabbed home the rebound to trigger wild celebrations in Quito’s Atahualpa Stadium.
Ecuador will now aim to secure a fourth consecutive victory when they travel to Venezuela on Tuesday.
Venezuela, who lost their opening two matches last month, suffered a third defeat when they slumped to a 4-2 defeat to Bolivia in La Paz, but the most eagerly awaited match of the day, the Superclasico between South American heavyweights Argentina and Brazil, was a washout.
Torrential rain pounded Buenos Aires for hours prior to kickoff, leaving the pitch at River Plate’s famous Estadio Monumental heavily waterlogged with no chance of play possible.
“The bad weather made it impossible for the match to be played. Heavy rain is still falling on Buenos Aires so the match has been postponed,” an Argentine Football Association statement said.
The match was called off approximately 40 minutes before it was due to kickoff at 9pm. Argentina and Brazil were due to face each other yesterday, weather permitting.
Brazil were due to welcome back superstar striker Neymar from suspension after his four-match ban at the Copa America, while Argentina were looking to bag their first win of the qualifying campaign after taking only one point from their first two matches last month.
Argentina were without an array of key players, with captain Lionel Messi and strikers Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez all injured.
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