Asuncion (Paraguay): South American qualifiers for the upcoming World Cup didn’t go so smoothly for Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Vinicius Junior. Whereas Messi was powerless to prevent Argentina losing 2-1 against paraguay vs. argentina, Vinicius Junior squandered a chance to win the match in the second half as Brazil settles for a 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday.
L.A – Argentina is to retain the pole position in the 10-team round-robin competition with 22 points in 11 matches; Brazil is provisionally 3rd in the standings with 17 points.
Ecuador also won their match against Bolivia 4-0 on Thursday. The Ecuadorians retain fifth place with 16 points while Bolivia remains seated eighth with 12 points.
The South American World Cup qualifying will resume on Friday, with second-placed Colombia traveling to Uruguay and the two teams currently occupying the last two spots in the table, Peru taking on Chile in Lima.
The Argentina played with paraguay vs. argentina with the latter having prohibited their fans from wearing any Messi t-shirts within the home stands. The television coverage of the match in Asuncion revealed that the majority of the fans in the standsaws were dressed in Paraguay’s red and white kit and there were apparently no Messi replica jerseys seen in any of the Asuncion broadcasts.
There was little of the ball to Messi during the first half, but watched as Lautaro Martinez put the ball at the back of the net via a crossed shot in the 11th minute. The goal was set after a video referral.
Gustavo Gomez hits the wooden post with a header just before the equalizer, a bicycle kick by Antonio Sanabria in the nineteenth minute of the encounter for Paraguay.
The hosts though did not relent pressure and they were giving some heavy marking to the Argentine star. He wanted it more and when Messi was upset with Brazilian referee ..
It was Alderete who was able to give Paraguay the victory through a header in the forty-seven minute which then places the South Americans back in contention for a place.
There are many mistakes that we have to correct in this match but all things are looking good we are doing a good job. There continue to be more of us in the lead, and we have to press on to the future.
Vinicius Junior has yet to score a goal in six World Cup qualifications.
He almost had a shot at making a potential winner when he got the penalty after being fouled in the 67th minute but he skied his low penalty before the Brazil forward missed the target with the rebound.
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