World Cup 2018 South American Qualifiers: Still undecided

(Baonghean.vn) - In addition to Brazil having secured a ticket to Russia next year, the remaining 3 and a half spots will be a fierce competition between the top teams in the Americas. The gap between the teams is not large, making the battle for round 15 more intense.

The South American region has four direct spots in the World Cup group stage. The fifth-placed team will have to play a playoff against a representative from another continent. So no team wants to be stuck waiting for a knockout match full of luck.

In the South American rankings, after Brazil are Colombia with 24 points, Uruguay and Chile with 23 points, so the match between Argentina (22 points) and host Uruguay attracts the most attention from fans.

The war is not over yet

After the 0-2 defeat to Bolivia in March, Argentina coach Tata Martino was fired. The team under coach Tata Martino had only 6 wins (4 losses, 4 draws) after 14 matches. The appearance of "magician" Jorge Sampaoli is expected to bring about a change as the Albiceleste won 1-0 against Brazil, and 6-0 against Singapore in friendly matches.

In this key match, each team played well in the first half. As the home team, Uruguay took advantage of the audience in the first half. Luis Suarez and his teammates not only had more attacking situations but also put Argentina's goal in at least two dangerous situations. Cavani, the striker playing for PSG, even shot past goalkeeper Romero in the situation of rushing in to shoot in the 37th minute.

After the break, Argentina had three more chances to score but failed to score. Striker Mauro Icardi missed a chance when he was eager to shoot from a tight angle after Messi's through ball. Messi also failed to beat goalkeeper Muslera with a direct free kick and a long-range shot.

With a 0-0 draw, neither team improved their position: Uruguay remained in third place with 24 points, while Argentina was two places and one point behind. Argentina had some consolation in leveling the points gap with Chile, who surprisingly lost 0-3 to Paraguay. Second-placed Colombia also earned just one point against hosts Venezuela, who finished bottom of the table.

Thus, after round 15, the South American rankings have not changed because except for Chile who lost the match, Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina all only earned 1 point. If there is no acceleration, the fact that Messi and his teammates will have to go to the play-off, or even stay at home, will become real because the 6th team, Paraguay, also has 21 points, only 2 points behind.

Selecao won the 9th consecutive match

Selecao won the 9th consecutive match. Photo: Internet

With the overwhelming strength of coach Tite and his team, currently in South America there is no team that can stand up to them. Welcoming Ecuador at home, Brazil took the initiative to attack right after the opening whistle. Although Ecuador chose a tough strategy to limit the destructive power of Selecao, they could only hold out for 1 half.

After a first half filled with missed chances, Brazil opened the scoring in the 69th minute thanks to Paulinho, who had just moved to Barca. Less than 10 minutes later, Gabriel Jesus skillfully assisted Coutinho to double the lead for the home team. The 2-0 scoreline was Brazil's ninth consecutive win under coach Tite.

In addition to being the first team to qualify for Russia, Brazil has an excellent squad of players. They also have the opportunity to use the remaining matches to assemble their squad and attack plans./.

AT