We're in the last round of qualifying matches for next year's Fifa World Cup in Russia, and it gets the more interesting as we await the end of the phase.
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World-record buy having a bath in the Bolivian sunshine (c) dailymail.co.uk
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First off, Samba boys Brazil who've already qualified shared the spoils with already-eliminated Bolivia in La Paz. Game turned out to be surprisingly entertaining given the fact both sides had nothing to play for really. Neymar saw three of his efforts kept away by the opposition defence, wihle the hosts thundered the crossbar late on in the first half. Quite unlikely this particular group of players would win emerge kings in Russia next summer.
Second-placed Uruguay failed to get all three points at San Cristobal away to Salomon Rondon's Venezuela. Edinson Cavani had a penalty shout late in the first half which was not heeded by the referee. Luis Suarez remained anonymous for most of the match as his side couldn't break down an already-eliminated Venezuela side. A point enough in their next game to qualify automatically.
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Former Chelsea man Radamel Falcao can´t hold back the joy (c) dailymail.co.uk |
Radamel Falcao looked to have sealed a WC ticket with a delicate dink over the goalie for Colombia at home twelve minutes from time, only to stunned by two late Paraguay goals from centre-half Oscar Cardozo and Real Betis forward Antonio Sanabria after David Ospina fluffed his lines. Maximum points vital if we´re to see James Rodriguez come the tournament. They travel to Peru next week for the last game.
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What in the world is going on? (c) dailymail.co.uk. |
Argentina V Peru was the game everyone was probably waiting for (and I bet you hardly saw this coming). Well, it turns out we may not be seeing the magician at work as Jefferson Farfan´s Peru frustrated the Buenos Aires crowd to steal a vital point. That result puts Peru a point behind Colombia in 5th. Guess it´s the playoffs, whilst Argentina drop to 6th because of an inferior goal difference. The Albiceleste could miss out of the summer party for the first time since 1970. Mario Kempes tearing his hair out as we speak.
Chile have Alexis Sanchez to thank as he nicked in late on at the expense of Ecuador in Santiago to send Chile into third ahead of Uruguay. The Copa Centenario winners are ahead of Colombia due to a superior goal difference.
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You can almost feel the joy in Alexis Sanchez´s eyes (c) dailymail.co.uk |
We´re down to the final round of qualifying. Ney and co awaiting fellow travelers, reports suggest his best pal won´t be catching this flight. We´ll see when he travels to face Ecuador next Wednesday.
C´mon, we all want to see Messi eh?
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