Brazil powered to the top of the table in South America’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying race on Tuesday with a victory over Venezuela as Argentina suffered a shock defeat at home to Paraguay.
Goals from Manchester City teenager Gabriel Jesus and Chelsea’s Willian secured a 2-0 win over Venezuela in a match interrupted by a lengthy floodlight failure that plunged Merida’s Estadio Metropolitano into darkness.
The victory was Brazil’s fourth consecutive win of the qualifying campaign and left the five-time world champions on top of the standings with 21 points after 10 games.
Photo: Reuters
The win was the latest evidence of Brazil’s resurgence under new coach Tite, who took over following the sacking of Dunga in June after the Selecao’s Copa America Centenario flop.
It is the first time since qualifying began that Brazil have led the standings and the team look firmly on course to maintain their record of never having failed to qualify for a World Cup finals.
The acid test of Brazil’s renaissance is likely to come next month when they play old rivals Argentina, who stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at home to Paraguay in Cordoba.
Photo: AFP
A superb counterattacking goal from striker Derlis Gonzalez on 18 minutes was enough to give Paraguay all three points as the hosts once again struggled to cope with the absence of Lionel Messi.
Argentina have taken just two points from a possible nine in their past three matches, all played without Barcelona star Messi.
The hosts rallied furiously in the second half, with Angel di Maria seeing a goal from a free-kick disallowed because of a foul, while both Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero went close, but with Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar in defiant form between the posts, the visitor held on for a battling victory which revives their hopes of snagging one of the qualification berths.
The win left Paraguay just one point behind Argentina in the standings after 10 games. Argentina occupy the fifth qualifying spot in the table with 16 points, with Paraguay just behind on 15.
Meanwhile, Chile remained outside the qualification places, despite their 2-1 victory over Peru in Santiago in the regional derby known as the Clasico del Pacifico.
Chile, the dominant force in South American soccer over the past two years with back-to-back wins in the Copa America, desperately needed three points to get back on track after a stuttering start to the qualification campaign.
Bayern Munich midfielder Atrudo Vidal got La Roja off to a dream start, heading home on 10 minutes to put Chile 1-0 up, but a bold second-half display from Peru was rewarded on 76 minutes when Edison Flores skipped clear on the edge of the penalty area to rifle home a low shot to make it 1-1.
It seemed as though Peru had done enough for a share of the points, but with time running out, Vidal found space near the edge of the penalty area and lashed home a low shot to beat Pedro Gallese.
Chile’s win leaves them seventh in the standings with 14 points, two points from the qualification places.
Earlier, leaders Uruguay were held to a 2-2 draw by fourth-placed Colombia in an entertaining duel in rain-swept Barranquilla.
Centerback Yerry Mina headed Colombia’s equalizer five minutes from time after goals from Cristian Rodriguez and Barcelona superstar Luis Suarez had helped Uruguay into a 2-1 lead at the Estadio Metropolitano.
Colombia had taken the lead through Abel Aguilar after 15 minutes.
In La Paz, two goals from Everton striker Enner Valencia capped a tumultuous week for the England-based player as Ecuador came from 2-0 down to grab a 2-2 draw with Bolivia.
Valencia lashed home an 89th-minute strike to earn Ecuador a point after earlier giving his team hope with a 48th-minute goal.
Bolivia had taken a 2-0 lead through 38-year-old striker Pablo Escobar.
Valencia’s goals capped a dramatic week of duty with the international team.
Last week, the 26-year-old was at the center of a bizarre incident during his team’s win over Chile in Quito when he was accused of feigning injury to avoid police officers waiting on the sidelines to arrest him in connection with an alimony dispute.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
Italy crashed to a 3-0 loss away to Norway, as the four-time FIFA World Cup champions made a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Friday, while Belgium had to settle for a draw in North Macedonia. Alexander Sorloth, Antonio Nusa and Erling Haaland all scored in the first half in pouring rain in Oslo as Norway made it a night to forget for Italy, who missed out on the past two World Cups. “I have no explanation. Our supporters don’t deserve this kind of match. We need to do some soul-searching. It’s unacceptable,” Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
RSS