Topic: South American World Cup Qualifiers: Judgement Saturday.

[Ecuared]

The final two sets of fixtures for South American qualifying will be played this Saturday and Sunday and next Wednesday. The top four teams qualify directly for the World Cup, while the fifth place team goes into a play-off against the fourth place team from the CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and the Carribean).



A quick look at the table above shows how close things are. Brazil and Paraguay have already qualified, but the last three spots are up for grabs. There are endless possibilities, but any three of Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Colombia could still qualify, or be eliminated. There are some massive matches coming up this Saturday, all the important matches will be played at 11:00pm GMT, they are:



Ecuador vs. Uruguay

This is the marquee match of the weekend (and I've got tickets!!). Ecuador, the new kid on the block, has qualified for the last two World Cups. While Uruguay, the first World Cup winner, missed out on Germany and are currently on track to crash out again. Both teams need a win, a loss for Uruguay and they are out, and while Ecuador could conceivably lose and still qualify, they realistically need 3 points to put themselves in a good position.

Ecuador are giants playing in Quito, while Uruguay are notoriously poor travellers, particularly playing at altitude, the Estadio Olimpico Atahaulpa sits at 2800 air-thinning meters above sea level. This being said, Uruguay have Diego Forlan, and a shit-hot Luis Suarez, and will be confident of being able to score. Ecuador on the other hand don't have a recognized goalscorer, and have struggled throughout qualifying to capitalize the chances created by their excellent midfield. They outplayed Brazil, Paraguay, and Colombia at home but their poor finishing meant they could only draw in each of these games. Edison Mendez has been in great form since his return to LDU Quito and will look to pull the strings for the home side.




Argentina vs. Peru

This years qualifiers have been made extremely interesting, from a neutrals standpoint, by Argentina's freefall. The Albiceleste have actually dropped out of the direct qualification spot and into fifth place in the tables. The though of a World Cup without Messi and company is almost unthinkable, but remains a distinct possibility if they don't beat Peru.

If Argentina was struggling when Diego Maradona took over, they are in total disarray a year after his appointment. "El Pibe de Oro" has no clue what his best side is, and has recently made a habit of picking players from the domestic clubs, who have looked sorely out of depth at the international level.

Luckily for them, Peru is in even worse shape. They are already eliminated, and have nothing but pride to play for. This being said, they were in the same situation when they beat Uruguay back in September, so they must be taken seriously. Argentina could only manage a draw against them in Lima earlier in qualifying.



Colombia vs. Chile

Colombia's chances hang by a thread. They will have to win their two remaining games in order to have a chance of qualifying. Chile, on the other hand are the closest to qualifying, a win and they are guaranteed the third qualifying place.

Chile have been road warriors, winning 4 times away from home, and they will be playing to win in Medellin as well. Marcelo Bielsa has transformed them into a dynamic attacking side, playing an exciting 3-3-1-3 formation.

Colombia are the lowest scoring team in qualifying, with only a paltry 10 goals scored. Chile will be confident of winning an open game, but Colombia are strong at home and have fast players to exploit the spaces in the 3 man Chilean defense.



Venezuela vs. Paraguay

While this may be the least exciting of the Saturday fixtures, with Paraguay already qualified,don't try telling that to any Venezuelans. Venezuela has a real chance of qualifying for their first World Cup ever, but they will need to win their remaining two games. Paraguay may be qualified, but they are a team characterized by their fighting spirit and whatever team they put out will be playing to win.

Venezuela have been excellent at home playing in front of a wonderful home support, they will look to feed off of their vocal fans and pick up three points.

Brazil and Bolivia meet on Sunday, in a glorified friendly, Brazil are already qualified and Bolivia are out.

The final fixtures, to be played next Wednesday are:

  Home                      Away

Brazil         vs        Venezuela
Uruguay    vs        Argentina
Peru          vs        Bolivia
Chile          vs       Ecuador
Paraguay   vs       Colombia

[blurred]

I'm looking forward to these - hopefully catch one of them on the net if I can. Would love to see Argentina fail

[guest]

I'm looking forward to these - hopefully catch one of them on the net if I can. Would love to see Argentina fail

Really? It wouldn't be a World Cup for me without the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, the Dutch, Spain, Mexico, Cameroon - all the sides that brought you so many memories watching these tournaments.

[slickman]

This should be good the south amercian qualfiers pissess all over the boring europeon ones.

[scatman]

im in benidorm, hopefully i meet some hot argie birds out there who i can canoodle and have illicit fun with whilst watching them lose

[Helsinki Red]

I really hope Argentina will play in the World Cup next summer.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Top post mate.

Really looking forward to these games. Its going to be very very close and I have a feeling Argentina may well miss out which would be a disaster

[MaschHead]

This should be good the south amercian qualfiers pissess all over the boring europeon ones.

Too many shit teams in Europe, only 2-3 games matter for each group, rest is almost useless. There's one group with 3 'big' teams in it and Hungary that is doing better than expected, the other groups that are somewhat close are groups where it's just all 2nd rate teams. Rest is already decided who are qualified, maybe the playoffs will bring some excitement.

[Cribertinokes]

Argentina better qualify, a world cup without the likes of Messi, Aguero, Mascherano, Tevez, M.Rodrigeuz and little Insua would be shit.

[Brian Blessed]

Even if Argentina qualify, they have no chance while Maradonna remains in charge. It will be another group exit for them.

[scatman]

Argentina better qualify, a world cup without the likes of Messi, Aguero, Mascherano, Tevez, M.Rodrigeuz and little Insua would be shit.

I wouldnt say a world cup without Argentina would be shit.

[Cribertinokes]

I wouldnt say a world cup without Argentina would be shit.

I didn't mean it like that, Argentina don't make the world cup but it wouldn't be as good, I rarely see players like Messi and Aguero so where better than to watch them on such a huge, illustrious international stage.

[Skinny]

Hopefully Argentina make it. The World Cup would be a whole lot poorer without them

[Stussy]

Why anyone would want a World Cup without Argentina boggles the mind.

[Branno]

A World Cup without England is shite.....not just my view but that of many from outside the UK. The Argies ? Would love to see them fail

[Skinny]

A World Cup without England is shite.....not just my view but that of many from outside the UK. The Argies ? Would love to see them fail

I`d love a World Cup without England. The Euros were so damn enjoyable.

[scatman]

Why anyone would want a World Cup without Argentina boggles the mind.

well if they dont qualify then i'd say the world cup would not be a lot poorer without them as they werent good enough to get ahead of the teams in their own section

[Branno]

I`d love a World Cup without England. The Euros were so damn enjoyable.

I agree they were fantastic. But you ask most Europeans and the would prefer to have England there !

(This opinion is based on no fact whatsover) 

[Ecuared]

Realistically, Argentina will probably qualify. Even though they have been poor it is very unlikely that a Peru team with nothing to play for will go down to Bs As and get a result. That being said, with the Argentina backline as poor as it is (it feels weird saying that!) if Peru can sneak a goal than anything could happen. Maradona doesn´t have the tactical nouse to turn a game, and the pressure and anxiety the players would feel having to score twice could be too much for them. It´s too early to make a prediction, but my gut feeling at the moment is that Argentina pull out a win.

Then comes their second game with Uruguay, in Montevideo. This is the great variable. If Uruguay lose to Ecuador they are out of competition, they will be a heartbroken squad, and will most likely roll over for Argentina. Also the Argies have a history of doing Uruguay favours when they have already qualified, so surely there will be reciprocation. On the other hand if Uruguay beat Ecuador they will be playing for qualification, and have a very good chance of beating Argentina, which could potentially send them crashing out.

Their are a ton of variables, but Argentina remain a pretty good bet to at least get into the play-offs. But then as I said in the OP, the trainwreck that is Maradona as manager means that anything is possible and they could indeed drop out.

[Stussy]

well if they dont qualify then i'd say the world cup would not be a lot poorer without them as they werent good enough to get ahead of the teams in their own section

Yeah, it really would be poorer, just as a World Cup without Brazil would be poorer if they ever failed to qualify for whatever reason. Argentina bring their pedigree, their history, their culture, their passion and some of the best players in the world, something to do with the soul of the game, quite apart from the science and stats of it all. They are a team that can struggle to qualify but play well in a tournament situation. And it is about soul. You either get that, or you don't.

Although if Maradona gets them to the finals the best thing to do would be to take him out the door and bring in someone who knows what they are doing.

[Ecuared]

Although if Maradona gets them to the finals the best thing to do would be to take him out the door and bring in someone who knows what they are doing.

This is the big question. Can Argentina stab their god in the back?

It looks like the Peruvians may be a bit up for it. I´ve just been reading the South American rags and it looks like Kun Aguero said some silly things about the Peruvians that will be posted up in their dressing room. One of the Peruvian defenders has already come out and said he´ll have no problem kicking Messi off the pitch..... this could be interesting.

[Istanbulievable]

Agreed that the World Cup without Argentina would be a poorer tournament.  Same goes for the followings teams in my opinion:

Brazil
France
England
Holland
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Germany

[Ecuared]

Portugal to me are like Dropba. For all the skill and quality they have, their legacy (over recent years) will always be of cheating. They are the modern day masters of it all, the feigning injuries, the diving, the dirty tackles, time wasting, crowding the ref.

They have some of the best players in the world, but IMHO the World Cup would be better for their absence.

[chanti]

Com'on Maradona!!!!!!

[Branno]

I agree with you Ecuared...but for every word you said there you could easily be mistaken for talking about Argentina.

[Corkboy]

Good OP, Ecuared, thanks.

[Ecuared]

I agree with you Ecuared...but for every word you said there you could easily be mistaken for talking about Argentina.

Lol. You´re not far off, but I think that over the last 6-8 years Portugal has been the undisputed leader in cheating.

I wouldn´t shed a tear if Argentina didn´t qualify either. There is so much arrogance in Argentinian football, from the directors, press, players, all the way down to the fans.

At the end of the day though, they are nothing if not passionate, and it would be a shame having a World Cup without Messi, who not only plays the game so well, he does so with such joy and determination that his absence would be a bit sad.

Anyways, lots of the game´s great players never played in the World Cup, even the Greatest Player of All Time(tm) Ryan Giggs has never played one, in retrospect it´s amazing they even went ahead with the tournaments without him!

Good OP, Ecuared, thanks.

Cheers, I figure anything to distract us from the main boards for the next few days can only be a good thing. 

[CF999]

A very interesting weekend ahead no doubt.

I hope Argentina qualify personally.

A World Cup without England is shite.....not just my view but that of many from outside the UK. The Argies ? Would love to see them fail

It wouldn't be the same without England indeed. I love to have a deluded shower of southern twats to laugh at.

[guest]

It wouldn't be the same without England indeed. I love to have a deluded shower of southern twats to laugh at.

Australia?

[killer-heels]

I hope Argentina go out.

They won't exactly make the World Cup that worse if they are not there because they are shit.

[guest]

I hope Argentina go out.

They won't exactly make the World Cup that worse if they are not there because they are shit.

2002 qualification - the year Brazil won it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28CONMEBOL%29

Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Mascherano, Maxi, Higuain (now selected), Cambiasso (hopefully will be back), etc.

They're not shit, just mismanaged. And the Brazil example shows things can be sorted by next June.

[CF999]

Australia?

2002 qualification - the year Brazil won it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28CONMEBOL%29

Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Mascherano, Maxi, Higuain (now selected), Cambiasso (hopefully will be back), etc.

They're not shit, just mismanaged. And the Brazil example shows things can be sorted by next June.

Spot on.

[killer-heels]

2002 qualification - the year Brazil won it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28CONMEBOL%29

Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Mascherano, Maxi, Higuain (now selected), Cambiasso (hopefully will be back), etc.

They're not shit, just mismanaged. And the Brazil example shows things can be sorted by next June.

Argentina have flattered to deceive in World Cups for ages and in all of the ones that I have watched (going back to the Maradonna days when they last did great).

The last few World Cups they have had great teams on paper but, when you think they will go far, they fail. They have a great pedigree when they won it but the only teams the World Cup could not do without are Brazil, Italy and Germany.

[guest]

But it's Argentina - fans, atmosphere, and those that travel in numbers that belief that they won't fuck up. They always do.

A bit like England (if you remove the fact what England sing is, to us, cringeworthy bollocks).

It's a soft argument really as whoever gets there deserves to be there, but I'd rather have the Argies than Colombia or Venezuela. The only other upsetting thing is if Uruguay, two time winners, miss out and all.

[C]

Uruguay come through in 4th, Argentina win via play offs, everyones happy.

apart from Ecuador.

[CF999]

What's the story with the play offs then? Who are the 5th place South American team likely to face?

[C]

Mexico, Costa Rica or Honduras I think

[Ecuared]

What's the story with the play offs then? Who are the 5th place South American team likely to face?

The 5th place team from South America face the fourth placed team from CONCACAF. This will most likely be one of Honduras or Costa Rica, although there is still a possibility it could be Mexico, or El Salvador. Barring Mexico dropping down into the play-offs, the team from South America should be favourites to advance.

[guest]

What's the story with the play offs then? Who are the 5th place South American team likely to face?

4th from the North America group - looking to be Costa Rica or Honduras.

[CF999]

Cheers.

Argentina-Mexico would be a cracking tie, but I'd rather it didn't happen as I'd hate to see one of them not make it.

Are the Yanks qualified?