Manaus (AFP)
The star Neymar led his country Brazil to restore the tone of victories, and get very close to qualifying for the “World Cup 2022” in football, after he shook the net with passing two decisive balls, during the wide victory over his guest Uruguay 4-1, in front of the returning fans in Manaus in the second round. Ten South American qualifiers.
Neymar’s performance, “29 years,” was normal Sunday against Colombia 0-0, when Brazil failed for the first time to win, after nine consecutive victories, and this came after a loud statement in which he alluded to international retirement after the World Cup in Qatar due to psychological pressure.
In the high Amazonian heat and local fans returning, after a long absence due to the “Covid-19” pandemic, coach Tite’s men performed their best performance in these qualifiers, in which Neymar scored his 70th goal in 115 international matches, approaching the local record of legend Pele “77 Bi Rafinha added.
Despite the closure of the veteran Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, he scored an honorable free kick goal with a third of an hour before the end of the match, while another goal for his veteran colleague Edinson Cavani was canceled due to offside.
After the last draw with Colombia, Tite made five changes to his squad, resting Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos for Lucas Verissimo, and on the right, Rafinha played instead of Gabriel Barbosa.
Brazil raised its lead with 31 points out of 33 possible, six points ahead of Argentina, which remained unbeaten, after defeating its home country, Peru, with a goal by Lautaro Martinez, and the participation of its star Lionel Messi, the best player in the world six times.
Brazil, and even Argentina, logically guaranteed qualification, as they had a postponed match after the confrontation between them stopped on September 5, a few minutes after its launch in Sao Paulo, due to accusing some of the guest team players of violating the protocols of the Corona virus.
While Argentina are 9 points away from the fifth-placed Uruguay, the first four teams qualify directly for the World Cup finals and the fifth enters an international play-off.
After mutual smiles with Suarez, his former teammate in Barcelona, the most expensive player in the world shook the net of Fernando Muslera early after a beautiful series of 13 passes.
He braked the ball on his chest, dribbled the goalkeeper and planted the ball into the net from close range, sending an early signal that the five-time world title holder, a “record”, would be present again in the World Cup without interruption since the first edition in 1930, Neymar’s smile comforted him and her right with a shot followed by Rafinha, who He made his first major match with Oriverdi.
After the break, he played a “caviar” peeled ball for Rafinha, followed by the Leeds United midfielder, who landed in the far corner, achieving the double.
Rafinha, 24, said: “This event could not be better. I fulfilled my childhood dream. It will be difficult for me to forget this evening.
While Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus was less successful in wasting three chances, with “Caviar” passes also from Neymar, Suarez, the current Atletico Madrid player, returned little hope with a beautiful free kick in Ederson’s net, which Barbosa “Habigol” eliminated in The last minutes after a pass from Neymar, Brazil ended the match with four and 13 shots on goal.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, twice world champion, most recently in 1986, took an additional step towards qualifying with a shy victory over Peru 1-0, after they swept Uruguay 3-0.
The match came rough from the Peruvian side “20 mistakes”, especially on Messi, but “Albe Celeste”, crowned with the 2021 Copa America title, achieved the most important, ending his 25th match in a row, John lost.
His last loss is due to the 2019 Copa America semi-final against Brazil, “0-2”.
Messi and his teammates almost celebrated with Christian Romero’s header in the ninth minute, but the goal was canceled due to offside, Italian Inter striker Lautaro Martinez broke the siege, with a resounding header before the break after a beautiful cross from full back Nahonel Molina.
Peru was close to a tie after Jefferson Farfan got a penalty after being fouled by goalkeeper Emiliano Martins, but Yoshimar Yoton’s missile bounced off the crossbar.
Messi tried to score a reassuring goal, but his free kicks did not pass goalkeeper Pedro Jayesi.
“You can see how tired we are,” admitted coach Lionel Scaloni, after three “stressful” matches during the week-long international break, and the former player continued, “We got the points and that’s what we wanted.”
A rough confrontation in Barranquilla ended in a negative tie between Colombia, the fourth of the unified group, and its guest, and the match lasted 15 minutes after the original time, due to the repeated use of the video assistant referee (VAR).
The seventh Bolivia won a second successive victory in the capital, La Paz, at the expense of Paraguay 4-0, reviving its hopes of qualifying, thanks to the goals of Rodrigo Ramio, Moises Villarroel, Victor Abrego and Roberto Fernandes.
Quadruple immediately toppled Argentine coach Eduardo Periso of faltering Paraguay in eighth place.
Chile continued the process of restoring balance with three goals against Venezuela, which was signed by Edgar Pulgar “two goals” and English-born Ben Bretton.
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