Maradona defiant as Paraguay qualify
Reuters - Thursday 10 September 2009, 06:36
BUENOS AIRES - Diego Maradona, stunned to
find himself in serious danger of failing to take Argentina to
the World Cup, vowed on Wednesday to fight on as he watched
Paraguay join Brazil in South Africa next year.
"I will not be broken," Maradona said after a 1-0 loss to
Paraguay in Asuncion left Argentina in fifth place in the
10-nation South American group, equivalent to a two-leg playoff
with the CONCACAF's fourth-placed nation.
Maradona's Argentina, a weak sum of talented parts, were
overtaken in fourth place by Ecuador, who won 3-1 away to a
Bolivia team already out of the running.
Chile are also above Argentina in third but were unable to
secure their qualification when they lost 4-2 to leaders
Brazil's second string team in Salvador.
The top four qualify for the finals while the scrap for the
playoff berth also involves Uruguay, who beat Colombia 3-1 in
Montevideo, and Venezuela, both with 21 points, and the
Colombians on 20. Venezuela beat bottom team Peru 3-1 at home.
"I didn't imagine being in this position, I'd like to be
higher but that's our reality and I'm going to face it. We
still have a chance," Maradona told reporters.
He said going into the next match at home to Peru in
October without playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron, who was sent
off early in the second half in Asuncion, "doesn't change
anything.
"We must start to do the jigsaw puzzle again but Argentina
has the players to get us out of this... we had lots of injured
players but now we hope to recover them."
He praised Paraguay's scorer Nelson Haedo and fellow
striker Salvador Cabanas, who have five goals apiece in the
qualifiers, for their fine performance.
BRAZIL'S RESERVES
Paraguay's Argentine coach Gerardo Martino said: "It was a
long time since Paraguay had played as well as in the first 45
minutes today.
"We had great motivation to play against Argentina because
they are great rivals and it's something special."
While Maradona resorted to sending out as substitutes
36-year-old new cap Rolando Schiavi in defence and 35-year-old
striker Martin Palermo, who missed three penalties in one Copa
America match in Paraguay 10 years ago and had won the last of
his previous seven games for Argentina in 1999, Dunga revelled
in Brazil's strength in depth.
"When the score was 2-2 (after Chile's equaliser) the crowd
hushed but the team knew how to react," he said of his team's
victory secured with a hat-trick by 25-year-old striker Nilmar.
"Today we have players who really want to play in the
Brazil team, committed players. They turned the situation round
themselves," Brazil's coach told reporters.
He said Nilmar, who seized his chance in the absence of
five first-choice players through suspension and injury, was "a
player who carries out what you ask him to do and a little more
too."
Chile's Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa said his side, like
so many when they come up against Dunga's Brazil, succumbed to
counter-attacks when they were on top.
"In two breaks they turned over the result when conditions
were good for us," he said, adding that a win away to Colombia
or at home to Ecuador in their last matches would see Chile
through to their first World Cup since 1998.