Peru guaranteed its place in the play-off of the South American zone for the 2022 World Cup, by beating Paraguay 2-0 tonight (Wednesday morning in Portugal).
That was what was to be decided in this last round of the South American qualifying phase, since the four places of direct qualification were already guaranteed by Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay. Peru has already entered fifth place, one point ahead of Colombia and two over Chile, the remaining candidates to secure a spot in the play-off, which will be played with an Asian team (Australia or United Arab Emirates) .
At the National Stadium in Lima, however, the victory of the Peruvian team began to take shape. After just five minutes, a long pass from the midfield found forward Gianluca Lapadula, who had the dexterity needed to open the scoring. Even before the break, Yotún, in an acrobatic shot after a cross from the left, made it 2-0.
Thus, the aspirations of Colombia fell to the ground, which in Venezuela beat the local team by 1-0, with a goal by James Rodríguez, from a penalty, in the first-half stoppage time. Mateus Uribe, FC Porto midfielder who had scored last week in the victory over Bolivia (3-0), did not leave the substitutes’ bench this time.
Chile, on the other hand, said goodbye even with a defeat at home, against Uruguay (0-2). Luis Suárez, in the 79th minute, followed up with a bicycle kick from the right corner, opening the scoring for the Uruguayans, who confirmed the triumph on the 90th minute with a shot from the edge of the area by Federico Valverde. Sebastián Coates started and Manuel Ugarte came on in the 74th minute – Darwin Núñez didn’t come off the bench.
To fulfill the calendar, Brazil beat Bolivia 4-0, with goals from Lucas Paquetá (24′), Richarlison (45′ and 90+1′) and Bruno Guimarães (66′), while Argentina (with Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica ) to complete the 90 minutes) drew 1-1 in Ecuador. The young forward Julián Álvarez (24′) took the Argentines forward, while Enner Valencia equalized in added time, after a penalty awarded for handing the ball by defender Nicolás Tagliafico. They didn’t win, but Messi and company equaled the record for games without losing (31)…
Results:
Bolivia v Brazil, 4-0
Peru – Paraguay, 2-0
Venezuela v Colombia, 0-1
Chile v Uruguay, 0-2
Ecuador v Argentina, 1-1
Final classification:
1st Brazil, 17 games/45 points
2nd Argentina, 17 games/39
3rd Uruguay, 18 games/28
4th Equator, 18 games/26
5th Peru, 18 games/24
6th Colombia, 18 games/23
7th Chile, 18 games/19
8th Paraguay, 18 games/16
9th Bolivia, 18 games/15
10th Venezuela, 18 games/10
–
