Argentina under pressure; Brazil on brink of qualifying
Argentina were the runner-up in the last World Cup. This time they are under pressure to qualify.
That pressure will be felt even more in Tuesday match against Bolivia in the thin air of La Paz, which is located in the Andes at 3,650 metres altitude. Argentina have not won a match there since 2005, upping the stakes a bit more.
Meanwhile, South American rivals Brazil will gear up for possible early qualification if they beat Paraguay in Sao Paulo. To advance, the South American group leader need a victory and a few other results to fall their way. But win or lose, Brazil are heading for the World Cup in Russia with five rounds of qualifying remaining. Argentina cannot be so confident.
Second-placed Uruguay face a winnable match at lowly Peru, and fourth-placed Colombia have a real test at fifth-placed Ecuador. Sixth-placed Chile welcome lastplaced Venezuela in Santiago, hoping to climb back into qualifying position.
With five rounds to go, Brazil have 30 points — more than enough to secure a spot in previous World Cups. Uruguay have 23 and Argentina 22.
With Brazil almost sure to advance — and Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru struggling at the bottom — that leaves six teams fighting for the three remaining automatic spots for Russia. Another South American team could also advance to a playoff.
Argentina put on a poor performance on Thursday, but managed to beat Chile 1-0 in Buenos Aires after a controversial penalty was conceded and converted by Barcelona star Lionel Messi.
The visitors will miss suspended Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano, which is making coach Edgardo Bauza think of dramatic changes to the team. Before the win against Chile and the loss of Mascherano, Bauza was considering a defensive 5-4-1 formation in La Paz, hoping to save his players’ energy and capitalise on the ball-holding Mascherano. Now he may be forced into a more offensive formation that relies less on counter-attacking.
Bolivian coach Mauricio Soria, who spared some of his main players in the 1-0 defeat at Colombia on Thursday, said his team will not be intimidated by the Argentine stars.