Argentina qualify for World Cup; Uruguay go to play-off

MONTEVIDEO - Argentina qualified for the 2010 World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo in the last round of the South American qualifiers.

Wednesday’s matches also saw Ecuador lose to Chile, keeping Uruguay alive for a last chance to earn a ticket to South Africa next year. Uruguay qualified for a play-off with a team from North or Central America or the Caribbean, which turned out to be Costa Rica after it drew 2-2 with the United States Wednesday.

Brazil, Paraguay and Chile had already secured berths in South Africa before the last round of the qualifiers.

“Now it’s a different film,” Argentina coach Diego Maradona said of his team’s World Cup prospects.

He lashed out at critics and stressed his full confidence in his men after the members of one of the world’s football powerhouses struggled to advance to South Africa.

Veteran midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron - for many, the man of the match - was more cautious.

“We suffered a lot in the qualifiers, but everything ended well,” he said. “When you suffer, every achievement has greater value. Now we have to think about improving to get to a great World Cup.”

Mauro Bolatti scored the only goal of the match in the 84th minute although a draw would have been enough to get Argentina a World Cup berth after Ecuador’s defeat. Bolatti made the most of a rebound after a long-distance shot from Veron.

Uruguay started out well and had three chances in the first 10 minutes of play. However, the match was generally tense and lacked clear chances after that.

Argentina controlled the midfield although superstar Lionel Messi again failed to shine.

“We knew that we did not have to go crazy, that we had to play a bit with their despair,” Bolatti said after the match.

Uruguay were confident ahead of the play-off against Costa Rica.

“We fervently desire to go to the World Cup,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. “We have confidence in ourselves, but we know it’s difficult.”

In Santiago, already-qualified Chile beat Ecuador 1-0 to end the visitors’ hopes of reaching the 2010 World Cup.

With a close-range goal from reliable striker Humberto Suazo in the 51st minute, Chile celebrated before their home fans after sealing their own qualification over the weekend in Colombia.

Suazo was the most prolific scorer in the South American qualifiers with 10 goals.

Chile have not played in a World Cup since 1998 while Ecuador had played the last two editions of the global tournament.

Captain Claudio Bravo noted that qualification is “an achievement for all Chileans” as thousands of his compatriots again poured onto the streets to celebrate.

“Now we are going to South Africa to play a good World Cup,” Bravo said.

Venezuela drew 0-0 in their trip to Brazil to close their best-ever World Cup qualifiers despite not making it to South Africa.

Although Brazil had already qualified for the World Cup, coach Carlos Dunga was not happy with his men’s performance.

“We would have wanted to have won the match,” he said. “We wish we had done more to give joy to these fans who cheered Brazil on even though the team played badly in the first half.”

Brazil dominated the second half of the match at Morenao Stadium in Campo Grande although they were down to 10 men after Miranda was sent off for elbowing a rival in the 56th minute.

Players did not feel the draw was a major setback.

“Brazil is on the right track, and we have to keep that union,” striker Luis Fabiano said. “Of course, we will have to correct a few things, but we are on the right track.”

Venezuela, a baseball nation, is the only country in South America where football is not the most popular sport. Yet its national team still clung to a remote chance of making it to South Africa until the last round of the qualifiers.

Already-eliminated Colombia defeated Paraguay 2-0. Midfielder Adrian Ramos in the 61st minute and striker Hugo Rodallega in the 80th minute sealed the visitors’ win in Asuncion.

Also Wednesday, Peru beat Bolivia 1-0 Wednesday in Lima in a clash between the bottom teams in the South American qualifiers. Both teams had long been out of the race for a place in South Africa.

Johan Fano scored the lone goal in the 53rd minute of a poorly played match.