World Cup Qualification CONMEBOL Results

Yet another dramatic day in the World Cup Qualification CONMEBOL.

While Argentina presented a woeful display without their talisman Leo Messi, Brazil cemented their position at top of the group and also are the first to qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Colombia leapfrogged Uruguay to become 2nd in the group.

Detailed result follows:-

1- Bolivia 2-0 Argentina

Just when Argentina were suffering from the news of Leo Messi's suspension for 4 games, their World Cup hopes took another major hit as they suffered a shock loss at the hands of Bolivia.

The visitor team never showed any spark as the Bolivian team cruised to a comfortable 2 goal win with goals from Juan Carlos Arce and Marcelo Moreno on either side of the half.

With this loss Argentina are 5th in the group with 22 points from 14 games.

2- Ecuador 0-2 Colombia

Colombia won in Quito with goals from James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado and boosted their World Cup hopes as they leapfrogged​Argentina and Uruguay to reach 2nd in the group.

Jose Pekerman's side were playing on a difficult away ground and they produced a remarkable performance.
Ecuador were reduced to 10 man later in the second half as they lost a place of playoffs to Chile.

3- Chile 3-1 Venezuela

Chile eased past bottom placed Venezuela as Alexis Sanchez became country's joint top goalscorer.

Sanchez opened the scoring in 4th minute with a brilliantly​ taken free kick as he took his tally to 37 goals and move alongside Marcelo Salas as country's joint top goalscorer.

Minutes later Esteban Paredes got onto the score sheet as he scored a brace on the night.
Venezuela managed to pull one goal back with the help of Salomon Rondon just past the hour mark but any kind of turnaround looked almost impossible.

Colombia were given a boost with the return of Arturo Vidal who missed last game 1-0 loss against Argentina.

4- Brazil 3-0 Paraguay

Brazil continued their excellent form and winning streak as they become the first team to qualify for the World Cup thanks to Peru's 2-1 win against Uruguay.

Neymar bagged his 52nd goal for his country as goals from Phillipe Coutinho and Marcelo too, helped Brazil secure a 3-0 win on the night.

Tite's men are in sublime form as they won their 9th game in a row since last year's Copa America Centenario. 

With this win Brazil are assured of at least a top 4 finish and have officially qualified for the next year's World Cup in Russia.

Brazil are currently 9 points clear of second placed Colombia who won against Venezuela while 11 points adrift Argentina who currently occupy play-offs 5th place.

5- Peru 2-1 Uruguay

Uruguay suffered a third consecutive defeat in qualifying round as Peru came from behind to down struggling visitors in Lima.

Goals from Paolo Guerrero and Edison Flores staged a much needed win as the return of Luis Suarez could not help Uruguay.

Uruguay drew first blood as they scored in the 30th minute through Carlos Sanchez but it lasted for just 4 minutes as Paolo Guerrero stored parity and Edison Flores completed the comeback just passed the hour mark.

With this win Peru kept their World Cup hopes alive.

Only 2 points separate 2nd placed Colombia and 5th placed Argentina as the fight for a place in next year's World Cup intensifies.
World Cup Qualification CONMEBOL will return in action later this year in September.

Pic Credits - FIFA World Cup 2018 

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Messi suspended for 4 games

FIFA has handed a four match ban to Lionel Messi after the star player was found guilty of abusing the linesman in Argentina's match against Chile.

Messi scored the only goal of the match against Chile

Lionel Messi, who scored the winner against Chile in a must win match was not so good with his mouth as the player was found speaking cuss words to the linesman.
The incident reportedly came to light after the video did rounds and FIFA was considered to take a strict action against this.

The news came today that the Argentine has been handed a 4 match ban means he won't be available for the matches against Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru.

Messi has proved to be the Talisman for his team in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifier as stats clearly show how poor his team has fared in his absence.

With the absence of Messi, Argentina will face a difficult task in the upcoming matches as their World Cup dream looks bleak at the moment.

Nevertheless, the AFA will appeal to FIFA to reconsider the punishment as the nation's World Cup qualifications dream is hugely dependent on him.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

India to face England in Junior Hockey World Cup today in Lucknow

After defeating Canada in their opening match, India now faces tough challenge in the form of England.

England won their first match against South Africa, scoring four goals and conceding two.

Indian coach, Harendra Singh said after the first game that the team played in first gear mode but against England they have to shift to second gear as they are a strong opponents.

The strategy of Team India in this tournament is to take one game at a time, and step by step progress further.

©TheIndianExpress

India has not won this tournament since last 15 years and they will be hoping to end this drought this time.

India defeated Canada 4-0 in the inaugural match of the tournament and are full of confidence. But they must not get buoyed with the performance as there is still a long way to go.

England has also not won this tournament in their history, so they will give their all to beat India in their own backyard.

India, unlike England, will have full home support and the English coach is aware of this fact. But he still hopes his team will perform with full confidence against India.

Key players from the Indian side are forward Mandeep Singh, defender Harmanpreet Singh, captain Harjeet Singh, penalty corner specialist Varun Kumar and goalkeeper Vikas Dahiya.

A look at the various results so far in the Tournament-

 NEW ZEALAND vs GERMANY (1-2)

©FIH

In their quest for the 3rd consecutive world cup, Germany had to sweat it out for a win against New Zealand.
The Kiwis gave a tough fight but in the end the experience of the champion team took them to victory.
Germany went down by a goal inside opening 5 minutes but Germany didn't panic and made a flurry of attacks on the Kiwis goalpost. They equalised in the 24th minute and got their reward of winning goal in the 51st minute.

Germany are currently top in their pool.

NETHERLANDS vs MALAYSIA (7-2)

©FIH

                                           

The Dutch side thrashed Malaysia with their fast paced game. Malaysia got their entry in the tournament at the expense of Pakistan.

Malaysia scored their first goal in the 59th minute when they were 6-0 down.
It was a completely dominating performance by the Dutch.

Their next match is against Belgium, which may well be pool topper decider.

ARGENTINA vs AUSTRIA (1-1)

©FIH

Argentina were held for a draw by Austria, who qualified for the first team for this tournament.

Led by an Indian coach, Austria stunned Argentina as the match ended on a draw.

First half remained goalless but in the second half Argentina took the lead, but Austrian team equalised after 16 minutes through penalty corner.

The performance of Austria certainly grabbed a lot of eyeballs and it will be interesting to watch how they fare against other teams.

BELGIUM vs EGYPT (4-0)

©FIH

Belgium faced a weak challenge in the face of Egypt and cruised to a comfortable victory with two goals in each half.

All four goals were scored by four different players.

SPAIN vs JAPAN (4-1)

©FIH

After losing their first match against defending champions Germany, the Spanish side came hard at Japan.

They hit 3 goals in the first half. In the second they played defensively according to their strategy.

Lucas Garcia scored two goals for Spain.

©sportskafun.blogspot.com

Results - World Cup Qualifiers

CONMEBOL - 1st Round

Argentina vs Colombia (3-0)

After failing to win their last 4 qualification games, it was a must win game for Argentina. 

Lionel Messi was hands down Man of the Match as with the help of his 1 goal and 2 assists, Argentina registered a comfortable win.

Messi was in different color. He opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick in the 10th minute which got into the back of the net off the underside of the bar. No chance for the keeper to stop that. 

He was a constant threat to Colombia. In the 23rd minute he set up another for Lucas Pratto, the later was given a nod ahead of Gonzalo Higuain and he justified his selection by heading a gorgeous cross from Messi into the goal. 

Messi made several other chances and he was the architect again, he caught Murillo in possession and made a run into the area and squared it for former Real Madrid man, Angel Di Maria, who put it into the empty net. 

It was given the fact that Argentina have never lost a World Cup qualifying match at home against Colombia and Colombia have never scored in a qualifying match in Argentina, conceding five.

With this win Argentina climbs above Colombia to 5th position with 19 points in 12 matches.

Peru vs Brazil (0-2)

In-form Brazil were up against Peru, who won their last match against Paraguay. Brazil also came into this match on the back of a 5 match winning streak and had they not win this game they would still be at the top of the table. 

First half was goalless with Peru coming the closest to score, hitting the post through Andre Carrillo. 

In the 58th minute Brazil got the breakthrough when young Gabriel Jesus hammered the ball home after poor defensive display from Peru. 

Brazil with their commanding display were more likely to score another goal as Peru were struggling. Neymar hit the crossbar in the 77th minute after collecting the pass from Coutinho on the left, he pushed the ball onto his right and launched a ferocious effort that rattled the post.

Brazil got their 2nd goal of the game just minutes later. Again Peru failed to clear the ball and Gabriel Jesus wasted no time in setting Renato Augusto who finished the scoring. 

Gabriel Jesus recorded one assist to go with his goal. 

Brazil are top of the pile with 27 points in 12 matches, 4 ahead of 2nd placed Uruguay. 

Chile vs Uruguay (3-1)

News was there that Arsene Wenger did not like when Alexis Sanchez was named in the squad as he had an injury and is a key man for Arsenal. 

Despite Wenger fears, he was named in the squad and also proved to be the difference among the two teams.

Uruguay opened the scoring with Edinson Cavani finding the back of the net in 17th minute. But Eduardo Vargas levelled the match on the stroke of half-time. It was Alexis' show in the second half as he put the hosts ahead on the hour-mark with a well struck volley and 16 minutes later scored his 2nd of the match to complete Chile win. 

Claudio Bravo gave away a penalty two minutes before time but he saved the effort by his former Barca teammate Luis Suarez and with this win Chile climbs to 4th position and within 3 points of 2nd placed Uruguay. 

Some other results :-

• Bolivia 1-0 Paraguay - Bolivia secured the win with an own goal from Gustavo Gomez.
• Ecuador 3-0 Venezuela - With all 3 goals scored in 2nd half, Ecuador is on 3rd position tied on points with Chile and ahead on goal difference.

AFC - 3rd Round

Group A

• South Korea vs Uzbekistan (2-1) - South Korea came from behind to defeat Uzbekistan at their home ground and move to 2nd place.

• China vs Qatar (0-0) - Bottom end teams play out a nil-nil draw.

• Syria vs Iran (0-0) - With this draw Iran remains at the top of the table one point ahead of South Korea with 11 points.

Group B

• Japan vs Saudi Arabia (2-1) - With the win over Saudi Arabia, Japan climbs above Australia and onto the 2nd position and tied on points with the table toppers Saudi Arabia. 

• Thailand vs Australia (2-2) -  The Socceroos were held for a draw and missed the chance to go top. They are currently 3rd with 9 points in 5 matches. 

• U.A.E. vs Iraq (2-0) - With this win U.A.E draw level on points with Australia. They also have 9 points in 5 matches.

So this is how the teams fared on the matchdays enroute 'Road to Russia'. 

©sportskafun.blogspot.com