Battle for places hots up

Matchday ten of the South American qualifying competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ proved a perfect one for Paraguay. While they were winning again to put one foot firmly in the finals, Argentina and Brazil stumbled to leave the race for the remaining three automatic spots tighter than ever. Only five points separate the quintet of sides chasing the Albirroja, and with eight rounds still to go the two continental giants still have much to do.FIFA.com rounds up all the midweek highlights from the CONMEBOL Zone, which included an historic triumph for Chile over Argentina, another deflating home performance from Brazil and an unexpected comeback win for Venezuela against Ecuador.

Match of the day
Chile 1-0 Argentina
Goal: Fabian Orellana 35
Unintimidated by their neighbour's reputation, Chile stood firm on a warm evening in Santiago to record a deserved win. Marcelo Bielsa's side approached the game as if their lives depended on it, handing the visitors only their second defeat of the campaign. Orellana's first-half goal was no less than the hosts deserved, and they stay fourth but are now level on points with their neighbours. For Alfio Basile and his men, meanwhile, the problems are starting to mount.

Surprise of the day
Bolivia 2-2 Uruguay
Goals: Marcelo Martins 15, 42 (Bolivia); Carlos Bueno 63, Sebastian Abreu 88 (Uruguay)
Two goals down at the break, Uruguay looked down and out in La Paz. The Celeste are nothing if not tenacious, however, and showed some of their famed grit and determination to escape with a draw thanks to second-half headers from Bueno and Abreu. Grateful to be among the points again after losing to Argentina at the weekend, the Uruguayans cling on to fifth and the coveted play-off spot.

The other matches
The Paraguayan juggernaut continues to gather momentum on its seemingly inexorable journey to South Africa 2010. The Guaraníes chalked up their fifth consecutive home win, this time at the expense of Peru. New boy Edgar Benitez proved their saviour, coming on after a goalless first half to score with a left-foot strike and take the tabletoppers to 23 points. The luckless Peruvians remain rooted to the bottom on seven.

Venezuela were also celebrating after reviving their hopes with a heartening 3-1 win over Ecuador, their first in six outings. The Tricolor, who arrived in Puerto La Cruz buoyed by a six-game unbeaten run, took an early lead through Isaac Mina. The Vinotinto surged back with a glorious 20-minute spell in the second half, however, scoring as many goals in that time as they had in their previous five matches, the timely treble coming from Giancarlo Maldonado, Alejandro Moreno and Juan Arango.

Brazil's home travails continued as they recorded their third straight goalless draw in front of their own fans, this time against Colombia. Despite hanging on to second place in the table, Dunga's men were short of ideas once again and left the field to another round of boos and catcalls. The goal-shy Cafeteros, meanwhile, have now gone 532 minutes without finding the back of the net and six matches without a win. Little wonder, then, that they are languishing in seventh, five points adrift of the automatic qualification slots.

Player of the day
Fabian Orellana (CHI)
The Audax Italiano midfielder enjoyed a dream debut against Argentina in Santiago, producing a flawless display on the right flank and scoring the only goal of the game to give La Roja their first ever win over the Albiceleste in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match.

The stat
28 - The number of points Paraguay accrued in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. With eight games still to go this time around, the Albirroja have already amassed 23.

South American Zone, Matchday 10 results
Tuesday 14
Bolivia 2-2 Uruguay

Wednesday 15
Paraguay 1-0 Peru
Chile 1-0 Argentina
Brazil 0-0 Colombia
Venezuela 3-1 Ecuador

South American race hots up

By Tim Vickery

Colombia forgot that to get the best out of Juan Pablo Angel the Aston Villa striker needs to be surrounded with quick players

South America's World Cup qualification campaign has reached the half-way stage.

The 10 teams have all played each other once, and a glance at the table reveals an interesting fact.

The top four places - the automatic qualifying slots - are filled by the same countries that took them in the 2002 campaign.

This is hardly a surprise in the case of Brazil and Argentina.

With their tradition and sheer quantity of wonderful players they would have to be very incompetent - as Brazil were last time - to flirt with disaster.

Kaka's return lifts Brazil

Eleven months is a long time for a team to be without its talisman. It is long enough, too, for the sceptics to raise their concerns, even if those in question are the record five-time FIFA World Cup™ winners and the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year.

But this doubt pales in comparison to the pyrrhonism that once clouded Kaka's future in football. The Brazilian was 18 and on the books at Sao Paulo when, in 2000, he slipped on a water-toboggan slide and thumped his head on the bottom of a swimming pool, suffering a fracture of the vertebra; an injury which often leads to paralysis. He was told he may never play the sport again.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite nevertheless refused to languish in self-pity. Instead, he composed a list of ten goals he wished to realise in football. They included returning to action; signing a professional contract at Sao Paulo; earning a Brazil cap at senior level; joining a major club in Italy or Spain; and appearing at the FIFA World Cup.

It appeared preposterously ambitious. It proved comfortably attainable. Central to Kaka's accomplishment was his ability to cruise past opponents with the balance and elegance of a champion racehorse, the passing that made his virtual second sight lethal, and the capacity to consistently score from distance with shots as precise as they were powerful.

"He's got everything. When he plays like that he's unstoppable," said then Ecuador coach Luis Suarez after his side had succumbed 5-0 to a Kaka-inspired Brazil in a South Africa 2010 qualifier one year ago.

Source : www.fifa.com

Portugal boosted by Ronaldo return

Portugal, having slumped to a shock home defeat by Denmark without Cristiano Ronaldo last month, welcome the winger back for their 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Group 1 qualifier against Sweden on Saturday. The 2006 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists are fourth in the group with three points, a point behind leaders Albania, Denamrk and Sweden after two matches.

"I know that from now on everything will be more complicated after the defeat against Denmark," said Ronaldo, who has recovered from ankle surgery. "We cannot lose more qualifiers. I hope that things run better," added the winger, who will, however, lack the support of several regulars in the Portuguese team.

Midfielder Maniche and playmaker Deco have been ruled out through injuries, adding their names to a list that already included central defender Ricardo Carvalho and winger Simao Sabrosa.

Sweden's situation is no better, though. Striker Henrik Larsson, who came out of retirement for the third time in his career at UEFA EURO 2008, will be out for the next few weeks after injuring his thigh during training. Defensive midfielder Tobias Linderoth, a cornerstone in the Swedish team, has been plagued by injuries this year and also misses the tie, with the competent but much slower Daniel Andersson set to take his place.

Andersson is also likely to deputise as captain in Larsson's absence, as stalwart defenders Olof Mellberg and Erik Edman are out, along with midfielders Anders Svensson and Christian Wilhelmsson. "I don't think I've ever had this kind of injury situation since I began (this job)," coach Lars Lagerback said on Wednesday.

The Swedes, however, have a history of collective strength and have been known to upset bigger teams when it has been least expected. Two years ago, they beat Spain in a Euro qualifier without Ibrahimovic. Lagerback experimented with a 3-5-2 formation in last month's 0-0 draw in Albania and 2-1 home win over Hungary, instead of his usual 4-4-2, but with so many absentees and facing stronger opponents, he could well play it safe.

"We say what we've said before, we're keeping both playing alternatives alive, then we'll have to see the condition of the players," said Lagerback.


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