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World champions off to good start
The first matches of World Cup 2006 have gotten underway in South America and it's the world champions Brazil that are setting the early pace, even if they haven't started with the goal frenzy the other nations have.
The World Cup qualifying kicked off with Argentina hosting Chile. Argentina's Kily Gonzalez got the world cup scoring underway on 31 minutes with the first goal. And while the result ended up being slightly disappointing for Argentina, Gonzalez will go down in the history books as the first goalscorer for the FIFA world cup Germany 2006. Argentina soon extended their lead four minutes later and went into half time 2-0 ahead. However Chile sprang a surprise and brought it back to 2-2 through Milovan Mirosevic and Reinaldo Navia. That's the way it stayed and the world cup had started with a slight upset.
Some big scores followed with Uruguay thumping Bolivia 5-0, Javier Chevaton scoring twice. Peru started with a surprise as well, thumping Paraguay 4-1 after conceding the first goal to the visitors.
The remaining matches in the first round were kept to a more modest result with Ecuador looking to make it to their second ever world cup, starting with a 2-0 win over CONMEBOL whipping boys Venezuela and Brazil starting with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Colombia. Ronaldo scored first to continue his world cup form from Korea/Japan. Juan Pablo Angel's equiliser had the teams enter the break at 1-1. Kaka's 60th minute strike for Brazil did the job though, Brazil taking the three points.
So with Uruguay and Peru leading the competition in 1st and 2nd respectively, the qualifiers moved into the second round. And it seemed that if you had won the previous match, you were likely to lose in this one and vice versa. It started off with Bolivia showing Colombia how to play football, crushing them 4-0. Joaquin Botero scoring a hat-trick in La Paz. To be fair however this is the venue that has taken many vicims in the past, the high altitude almost always having an effect on their opposition. However with Colombia, a nation that prides itself on football, two losses is almost unacceptable.
Argetina bounced back from the 2-2 draw with Chile to down Venezuela in a match they were expected to win. Venezuela also have suffered two defeats from as many qualifiers now. Chile took on the surprising Peru in Santiago De Chile and came away with a narrow victory. 2-1 the final score with Arturo Norambuena scoring the inner on 70 minutes. With Chile in this form they may even surpise a few contenders and hold a position in the top four or five by the end of the competition.
In what was a shock to Uruguay and probably Paraguay as well, Paraguay came away 4-1 winners over last years world cup participants. Jose Cardozo scored a hat-trick for Paraguay after Chevaton put Uruguay in front early. Brazil's tornament continued in a winning fashion although their results have been tight, one goal once again the difference. Ronaldinho's 12th minute strike enough to see Brazil gain a 1-0 victory over Ecuador.
The CONMEBOL standing are as follows:
Brazil - 6 pts
Argentina - 4 pts (+3)
Chile - 4 pts (+1)
Uruguay - 3 pts (+2)
Peru - 3 pts (+2)
Ecuador - 3 pts (+1)
Paraguay - 3 pts (-)
Bolivia - 3 pts (-1)
Colombia - 0 pts (-5)
Venezuela - 0 pts (-5)
13 September, 2003 |
