South American World Cup Qualifying Pits Brazil Against Regions Best

World Cup qualifying continues in South America at the end of the month with doubleheader fixtures starting on the last weekend in March. These are the first qualifiers since last October and will comprise matchdays 11 and 12 of the qualifying stage with 18 games in total.

Matchday 11

03/28 Uruguay vs. Paraguay

03/28 Argentina vs. Venezuela

03/28 Colombia vs. Bolivia

03/29 Ecuador vs. Brazil

03/29 Peru vs. Chile

Paraguay currently leads the section by six points but are the only side whose two games are both to be played away from home. First they travel to Montevideo to face Uruguay who without a win in three matches are keen to hold onto the fifth place which would give them a playoff against the fourth-placed CONCACAF team for a place in South Africa.

The two countries are the top scoring teams in the section so far and Uruguay will look to the section’s joint-top scorer Sebastian Abreu for firepower. Abreu salvaged a point for Uruguay last time out with a late equaliser in Bolivia.

Argentina hosts Venezuela in Buenos Aires on Saturday in what will be Diego Maradona’s first competitive match in charge. He will hope to inspire the form which saw them record three wins in three matches at the start of the campaign before a run of only one win in seven which saw Alfio Basile relieved of his position.

Last place Peru welcomes Chile on Sunday playing only for pride, and hoping to improve on their tally of only one victory and seven points. The visitors on the other hand, currently lie fourth after defeating Argentina last time out and another win will place them well to qualify for the first time since 1998 when they reached the second round in France.

Seventh hosts ninth in perhaps the least glamorous games of the round as Colombia plays Bolivia in Bogota. A win could put Colombia right back in contention but they go into the match as the region's lowest scorers with only four goals in 10 games.

Bolivia can boast two players, Joaquín Botero, and Marcelo Moreno Martins who have both scored more (five goals) and are currently joint-top scorers along with the aforementioned Abreu.

Brazil boasts the section’s meanest defense so far, having only conceded four goals in 10 games under Dunga, including five consecutive clean sheets in their most recent games. However, three of these five games have resulted in 0-0 home draws. Dunga will be keen to see his side win on their travels again when they face Ecuador.

Matchday 12

03/31 Venezuela vs. Colombia

04/01 Bolivia vs. Argentina

04/01 Ecuador vs. Paraguay

04/01 Chile vs. Uruguay

04/01 Brazil vs. Peru

Ecuador, in a reverse of Paraguay’s situation, is the only side to have both upcoming games at home and will hope that the advantage they enjoy at altitude in Quito will reap rewards as they face the top two teams, Brazil on Sunday, and then Paraguay on Wednesday. They will need to take some points from one or both of the games to stay in the frame as they work to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup.

Brazil’s second game sees them host Peru in Porto Alegre on Wednesday night and should present an easier test as Peru have lost all five of their games on the road so far without scoring a single goal. Dunga however, will be more than wary of another costly scoreless draw and will look for an emphatic win to keep the locals off his back for a while longer.

Maradona takes his team to La Paz for the second of their qualifiers looking for a repeat of the 3-0 victory they enjoyed earlier in the campaign in Buenos Aires. However, Bolivia has only lost one of five home qualifiers and have won the last three so definitely won’t roll over even if qualification might already be beyond them.

Venezuela hosts Colombia in Puerto Ordaz in what should be a must-win game for both sides as they seek to stay in contact with the top-five, and they will hold some hope as Chile and Uruguay face each other in Santiago de Chile, thereby guaranteeing that at least one team above them will drop points as the race for qualification really heats up.

South American World Cup Qualifying

Current standings:

 P  PTS

1.Paraguay     10  23

2.Brazil           10  17

3.Argentina      10 16

4.Chile            10 16

5.Uruguay        10 13

6.Ecuador        10 12

7.Colombia       10 11

8.Venezuela      10 10

9.Bolivia           10 9

10.Peru            10 7