5 hours Ago By The Straits Times
Julio Enciso of Paraguay vies for the ball with Alexis Mac Allister of Argentina during their World Cup qualifier. MONTEVIDEO – It was not a good day for the South American giants in their World Cup qualifiers on Nov 14, as world champions Argentina suffered a 2-1 away loss to Paraguay while rivals Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw at Venezuela. It started well for Lionel Scaloni’s team, also reigning Copa America champions, as they grabbed an early lead through Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez.
But it was an advantage that was to last just eight minutes as the home side drew level in spectacular fashion. Gustavo Velazquez whipped in a cross and Antonio Sanabria leapt in the air and fired past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez with a brilliantly executed bicycle kick. Filled with belief and roared on by the crowd in Asuncion, Paraguay battled hard in what was a scrappy encounter.
Two minutes after the interval, Omar Alderete grabbed what proved to be the winner, rising at the back post to head home a cross from Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez. Despite the loss, Argentina remain top of the standings on 22 points while Paraguay move into the sixth automatic qualification spot. “I think, overall, we played a great game.
We controlled the ball. Their goals came from two of our mistakes,” Martinez said after the match. “The (goal) at the start of the second half made everything more difficult.
We have to congratulate the opponent, who defended very well,” Scaloni added. Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior missed a penalty as Brazil had to settle for a point after a superb Raphinha free kick was cancelled out by a second-half strike from Telasco Segovia. The result leaves the five-time World Cup winners in third place.
Brazil had struggled for form early in their campaign but showed signs of their old swagger returning as they took the game to Venezuela at the Monumental Stadium. Two minutes before half-time, they broke through with Raphinha’s free kick flying in off in the inside of the far post. Venezuela drew level within a minute after the break – Segovia, just seconds after being brought off the bench, blasted in from the edge of the box after a smart lay off from Jefferson Savarino.
Vinicius then had a great chance to restore Brazil’s advantage in the 62nd minute after he was brought down in the box by Rafael Romo, but the goalkeeper made amends diving low to keep out the spot kick. Venezuela are in seventh place on 12 points and the seventh-place team will enter an Inter-confederation play-off for a spot in the 2026 tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
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