World Cup Qualifying 2018: Winners and Losers from Tuesday's CONMEBOL Games
The second round of South American FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers provided all the excitement, drama and tension you’d expect. There were sturdy defensive displays, slick goals and heated animosity in equal measures.
Uruguay decimated Colombia on home soil, much to the shock of spectators, while a previously uninspiring Brazil side found a much-needed cutting edge against Venezuela. It was a night to forget for Argentina, though, as they drew 0-0 with Paraguay, rubber-stamping a one-point haul from their first two qualifying games.
“I'm not happy with the point, we wanted to win. I'm satisfied with the first half, less so with the second,” Gerardo Martino lamented after the match, per journalist Sam Kelly. An insipid showing from Los Albiceleste’s attacking jewels—sans Lionel Messi due to injury—belied their on-paper ability.
Here, Bleacher Report breaks down the winners and losers from this evening’s action.
Loser: Javier Pastore, Argentina
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Argentina’s meek 0-0 draw with Paraguay will do little to disperse the concerns over the side’s poor start to World Cup qualifying.
The team as a whole were bad, but of larger concern were some of the severely underwhelming individual displays on show.
Chief among those was Javier Pastore, who, for the second game running, really failed to impact matters on the pitch. South American football aficionado Sam Kelly went as far as to label him “anonymous” on Twitter, lamenting his lack of...well, anything.
He was eventually replaced by Erik Lamela and should be worried by the strong performance of Atletico Madrid-bound Matias Kranevitter—the 22-year-old is searching for a spot in this XI on a permanent basis, and Pastore could be the one to drop out if this continues.
Winner: Miller Bolanos, Ecuador
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The pitch on which Ecuador played Bolivia on Tuesday was not a forgiving one; the puddles spread across it, courtesy of torrential rain, made for a difficult spectacle and a difficult game.
But Miller Bolanos—Ecuador’s rising striking star—produced a lovely passage of play to break the deadlock in the second half, collecting Juan Cazares’ inch-perfect through-ball, calmly controlling under pressure and slotting home from an acute angle.
Goal.com’s Rupert Fryer, rightly, praised the delivery from Cazares, picking out the run superbly, but Bolanos’ immense balance and soft feet on a ridiculous surface made the difference on the scoresheet.
The win puts La Tri on six points after two games, allowing them to build on a momentous win over Argentina earlier in the international break. They appear to be building on their knockout-stage appearance in the last FIFA World Cup at a time where Uruguay and Colombia are perhaps dropping off a little.
Loser: Jose Pekerman, Colombia
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Colombia’s start to World Cup 2018 qualifying was good, seeing off a lively Peru side to the tune of a 2-0 scoreline. They were expected to build on this in their visit to Uruguay—perhaps not win, but at least stitch together a good showing and contest for points—yet fell to an even worse scoreline (3-0) as La Celeste ran rampant.
The overall performance was abysmal. James Rodriguez was missing, granted, but Los Cafeteros looked devoid of any semblance of a plan. They had no idea how to work the ball forward, what they were supposed to do in midfield and their key attacking outlets—Juan Cuadrado (sent off late) and Carlos Bacca—were ineffectual.
Perhaps even more worrying is the apparent lack of faith Jose Pekerman appears to have in his "star" strikers. He had Jackson Martinez and Radamel Falcao on the bench from the start, never introduced the former and only brought the latter on in the 71st minute.
Although the players didn’t perform, it didn’t appear as though Pekerman had even remotely prepared for this game. He should take a large portion of the heat.
Winner: Alexis Sanchez, Chile
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Alexis Sanchez put in a jaw-droppingly brilliant performance on Tuesday evening as Chile beat Peru 4-3 in Lima. It was the complete forward’s showing: Playmaking, deadly finishing and the spearheading of an attacking unit.
His first major involvement was to put La Roja ahead, nudging home a fantastic low cross from Mauricio Isla inside 10 minutes. He then played an incredible, defence-splitting pass in to Jorge Valdividia to tee up Eduardo Vargas for a tap-in, and gave Chile the lead just before half-time with a cool, curled finish from 14 yards.
After the restart, his first act was to skin his marker on the outside, speed clear down the left and square it for Vargas’ easy second. When he's in the mood, he's practically unstoppable.
These were Alexis’ 30th and 31st goals for Chile, allowing him to further close the gap on Ivan Zamorano (34) and Marcelo Salas (37)—the nation’s two current top scorers.
Given the Arsenal man is just 26 years of age, it’s infathomable that he won’t surpass both legends and set the bar sky high for those to come.
Loser: Christian Cueva, Peru
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Peru vs. Chile promised to be a cracker; the attacking fluency both sides have shown over the last six months was certain to make for an end-to-end spectacle.
That it was—at least for a portion. After 25 minutes, sadly, Peruvian wide man Christian Cueva got himself sent off and handed Chile a heavy advantage in terms of momentum and personnel numbers.
After Marcelo Diaz had cynically handled the ball to stop a counter, Cueva took matters into his own hands—literally—by catching it and throwing it into Jorge Valdivia’s face. The brainless, stupid act gave the referee no choice but to show him the red card.
It didn’t ruin the spectacle—more goals would flow—but it did more or less end the hosts’ chances of going blow-for-blow with Jorge Sampaoli’s side.
