Argentina ride on Messi magic; Brazil down Peru
montevideo — Lionel Messi produced a magical display to get Argentina’s World Cup qualification back on track on Tuesday as Brazil notched their sixth consecutive victory to put one foot in the 2018 finals in Russia.
Messi curled home a stunning 30yard free-kick and set up goals for Lucas Pratto and Angel Di Maria in a 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan. The victory elevated Argentina into the qualifying places after a disastrous run of results which saw them take just two points from their previous four games.
Tuesday’s win left Argentina in fifth spot in the 10-team standings, with 19 points from 12 games. The top four sides qualify automatically for the 2018 finals while the fifth-placed team goes into a play-off with the firstplaced team from the Oceania zone. Meanwhile, Colombia slipped to sixth place following the defeat, one point behind Argentina. While Argentina have made hard work of qualification so far, Brazil appear to be coasting towards Russia. Only a miraculous sequence of results is likely to deny them an automatic qualifying place following Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Peru in Lima.
Manchester City-bound teenager Gabriel Jesus was the hero once more, scoring one goal and laying on another for Renato Augusto to give Brazil a sixth consecutive win under new coach Tite.
The result left Brazil four points clear at the top of the standings with 27 points from 12 games.
In qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, 28 points was enough to guarantee automatic qualification.
With six games left, Brazil should be safe with something to spare.In Santiago, Chile continued their recovery with a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Uruguay.