BUENOS AIRES -- Diego Simeone became the
first player to make 100 full international appearances for
Argentina on Wednesday and his team celebrated by hammering
Venezuela 5-0 in a World Cup qualifier.
Argentina, who have 28 points from 11 games, maintained
their five-point lead in the South American World Cup group,
looking ever more certain to qualify for Japan and South Korea
in 2002.
Venezuela remained rooted to the bottom with three points
after slumping to their 10h defeat in 11 matches.
The hard-tackling Simeone, who made his debut in a 4-1
defeat by Australia in 1988, is one of the game's fiercest
competitors and may have wanted a tougher match as he passed
the milestone.
Venezuela's lightweight team failed to bring out the best
in the midfield destroyer, who became Argentina's most capped
player in the previous match against Italy when he passed Oscar
Ruggeri's total of 98.
Simeone was given back the captain's armband for the night,
when he also celebrated his 31st birthday.
Ecuador had pulled off a major upset by beating Brazil in
Quito earlier Wednesday, but Venezuela rarely looked like
following suit, although they had a surprising amount of
possession and created several openings.
Fernando de Ornelas missed an excellent chance to give them
a shock lead before Argentina ruthlessly took them apart.
Hernan Crespo opened the scoring in the 12th minute,
beating his marker to Nelson Vivas' cross, and Juan Pablo Sorin
added the second in the 31st minute, clinically finishing a
five-man move.
The third goal, in the 51st minute, came from a dipping
free kick taken by Juan Sebastian Veron, though it was hard to
tell whether his effort was meant to be a cross or a shot.
Marcelo Gallardo, unmarked at the far post, headed the
fourth on the hour and defender Walter Samuel scored from close
range following a free kick five minutes from time.
Paraguay close to World Cup after beating Uruguay
MONTEVIDEO -- Paraguay put themselves on
the brink of clinching a place at next year's World Cup on
Wednesday when they beat arch-rivals Uruguay 1-0 away in a
rough, physical qualifier.
The defeat left once might Uruguay, playing their first
qualifier under new coach Victor Pua, in serious danger of
missing out on the World Cup for the third time in a row.
Paraguay moved to second in the South American group with
23 points from 11 games. Uruguay remained sixth with 15 but
lost ground on the top five.
Substitute Guido Alvarenga scored the winner in the second
half after Paraguay had soaked up endless pressure in the first
hour.
Spanish referee Jose Garcia Aranda had enormous difficulty
controlling the game, which was littered with late tackles,
nasty challenges and playacting from both sides.
The European official seemed to have little idea of how to
deal with the unique passions of a South American World Cup
qualifying match, often preferring to lecture players than book
them.
Uruguay had virtually all the possession for the first hour
as Paraguay packed their defense, but they could not find a way
past goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert.
The home team had to wait until the 43rd minute for their
first real chance, when Gianni Guigou's diving header forced a
fine, diving save from the volatile Paraguay captain.
Uruguay were punished in the 64th minute when a dreadful
clearance by goalkeeper Fabian Carini fell to Jose Cardozo and
his cross was fired home by Alvarenga.
Uruguay, who suffered their first home defeat in the group,
missed two excellent chances to equalize.
Substitute Marcelo Zalayeta shot over the crossbar with the
goal at his mercy, then defender Paolo Montero also headed over
from point blank range following a corner.
Miguel Caceres and Nelson Cuevas wasted good chances for
Paraguay to increase their lead.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior
written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or
delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.