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Diego Forlan and Martin Palermo scored last-gasp goals as
Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador switched places on a dramatic Sunday
of South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
Diego Maradona's Argentina, having beaten Peru 2-1 at home in
torrential rain, go to Montevideo on Thursday to defend an
automatic berth in the South Africa finals against a Uruguay side
that turned the tables on Ecuador.
Ecuador had started the day in fourth place but their 2-1 home
defeat by Uruguay left them sixth before Thursday's visit to Chile,
who took South America's third berth with a 4-2 victory in
Colombia.
Brazil, who play a dead rubber away to Bolivia on Monday, and
Paraguay, whose 2-1 away win over Venezuela put them level on
points with Dunga's side at the top of the group, had already
qualified.
Maradona called veteran striker Martin Palermo a miracle man after
his goal two minutes into stoppage time gave Argentina victory on a
sodden Monumental pitch.
"I thought we were liquidated, but at that moment I forgot about
Palermo," a relieved Maradona said of his desperation in the
agonising minutes between Hernan Rengifo's last-minute equaliser
for Peru and Palermo's winner.
Forland penalty
Forlan converted a penalty with the last kick of the game in Quito
to give Uruguay their victory after recovering from a goal down but
coach Oscar Washington Tabarez was quick to tell his players the
job was not yet done.
"We're going to take things calmly and come out of our joy quickly
to think about Argentina. We depend exclusively on a victory (on
Thursday)," Tabarez said.
Uruguay must win to swap places with Argentina and qualify for
their first finals since 2002, sending their cross-river neighbours
into the playoff against the team that finishes fourth in the
CONCACAF region.
Ecuador, though, are not out of the running. Argentina (25 points)
could even miss out altogether if Uruguay (24) and Ecuador (23) win
on Thursday.
Goals by Paraguay's Salvador Cabanas and Oscar Cardozo buried
Venezuela's hopes of reaching the finals for the first time. They
are not out of it mathematically but the odds are extremely
poor.
"We must recognise that the Paraguayans are one of the best teams
of the qualifiers," Venezuela's coach Cesar Farias told
reporters.
Chileans celebrated reaching the finals for the first time since
1998 with a team revived by the methodical coaching of Argentine
Marcelo Bielsa, a foreign national hero.
Bielsa, who can now dream of a better finals than 2002 when his
Argentina side flopped as title favourites, showed his coaching
nous with a timely substitution after half an hour in
Medellin.
Chile had fallen behind but Bielsa sent on the more attacking
Jorge Valdivia for playmaker Matias Fernandez and Chile went 2-1 up
within four minutes and did not look back, eliminating
Colombia.
