Joy for Suarez, irritation for Messi in qualifiers
Reuters - Saturday 12 November 2011, 04:10
Uruguay crushed Chile 4-0 with all four goals coming from Luis
Suarez, while Lionel Messi's Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw
at home by Bolivia in Friday's World Cup qualifiers.
Copa America winners Uruguay lead the nine-nation South
American group with seven points from three matches, followed by
Colombia, who have a game in hand, Argentina, Paraguay and
Venezuela.
Colombia let three points slip away at home when Venezuela
scored a late equaliser for a 1-1 draw, while Paraguay snatched
their first win, 2-1 at home to Ecuador.
Uruguay's Suarez said it had been hard to contain his
emotions after the four-goal performance.
"You want to burst into tears, your stomach turns," he said.
The striker came off in the 77th minute to a standing ovation at
the Centenario in Montevideo.
Suarez has scored 26 for Uruguay, six short of the record
held by fellow forward Diego Forlan, who missed the match
through injury. Brazilian Romario was the last South American to
score four goals in a qualifier, against Venezuela in 2000.
"I have a great admiration for how he went overcoming
challenges in his career," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.
Chile coach Claudio Borghi, who kicked five players out of
his squad for indiscipline in midweek, said the incident was in
the past.
"The week was not simple but what happened up to this match
is history. We're going to talk about how they felt," he told
the post-match news conference.
Chile next host Paraguay on Tuesday, while Uruguay will play
Italy in a friendly in Rome.
MESSI FRUSTRATION
Messi, who has no problem scoring for club side Barcelona,
must find a way to link up with his Argentina team mates if they
are to reach the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
"We can't let another single point escape us, we're angry
because we had chances to score but we were unlucky," a visibly
irritated Messi told reporters.
Argentina had much more of the ball and by far the greater
number of chances but were frustrated by a packed,
well-organised Bolivia defence.
They also had to fight back from a goal down after Marcelo
Martins latched onto an error by defender Martin Demichelis and
scored in the 55th minute.
Ezequiel Lavezzi grabbed the equaliser in the 59th minute
shortly after coming on as a substitute.
It was Bolivia's first World Cup qualifying point in
Argentina in nine games.
"The important thing was to take precautions with Messi
because he's a player who, if you don't control him, he'll win
the match... so we gave him little room," Bolivia coach Gustavo
Quinteros said.
Argentina next play Colombia, who let two points slip from
their grasp in a 1-1 draw in Barranquilla with northern
neighbours Venezuela.
The home side went ahead with an early goal from winger
Fredy Guarin but squandered a string of chances and paid the
price when Venezuela substitute Frank Felstcher equalised 12
minutes from time.
Paraguay had to work hard for their first win, 2-1 at home
to Ecuador, breaking the deadlock through midfielder Cristian
Riveros in the opening minute of the second half and adding a
second when defender Dario Veron headed home a free-kick.
Joao Rojas scored Ecuador's consolation in added-time.