World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

WorldService

carriedthemalltheway to Russia.

Atthe startofSeptember, Peruwere

bottom of thetable.But they built on

a goodCopaandhavesubsequently

pickedup 13 points,carryingthemto

fifth place,theplay-off position. Thisis

remarkableworkfromcoachRicardo

Gareca,becausePeruvianfootballis

hardlyhelping.Theonlynewplayerto

breakintothefirstteamsince 2 01 8 is

GianlucaLapadula,a31-year-oldItalian-

bornstrikerwhoqualifiedthroughhis

mother. Chileareliving a similarstory

withEngland-bornstrikerBen Brereton

Diaz,addingmuchneededyouth and

thrusttoanageingsidestruggling

mightilytogetovertheline,butwith

somedifficultmatchesahead.

Chileare just behindPeru,who

inturn arejustbehind fourth-placed

Colombia,crawlingtoQatar onepoint

ata time.Inten roundsundercoach

ReinaldoRuedatheyhaveonlybeen

beatenonce– buthavewon just twice.

Theyhavenowgoneanextraordinary

fivegameswithoutscoring.After a year

out,JamesRodriguezwas recalledin

November. Colombiawill need him

closetofull fitnesstosparksome

creativityinto theteam.

Uruguay wouldwelcomesuch

defensive solidity. Aftersixgames

unbeatentheycamebadlyunstuck

whenthe fixture list putthemagainst

ArgentinatwiceandawaytoBraziland

Bolivia,atthe extremealtitudeofLa

Paz.Theylostallfour, threeofthem

heavily. CoachOscar Tabarezwantedso

muchtoendhismarathonspell with the

nextWorldCup,the tournamentwhere

hecouldfieldbothhisveteran strikers

andthe promisingmidfielders.But

findinga balanceprovedverydifficult,

withtheteamconsistentlyworseonthe

pitchthanitlooks on paper. Paraguay

changedtheircoach- GuillermoBarros

Schelottoreplacing

EduardoBerizzo-

after a heavy4-0

defeatinLaPaz.

Andgoingdown

3-0toBoliviaalso

broughtthecurtain

downona spellof almost16 yearsfor

Tabarez,duringwhichUruguay had

returnedtofootball’s toptable.But,

witheasiergamestocomeintherun

in,Uruguay’s hopesofmakingitto

Qatar arestill intact.

Thosevictoriesalsoleave Bolivia

closetothe qualificationpositions,but

theymuststarttopickupsomeaway

points.Theirtriptobottom-of-the-table

VenezuelainJanuary is vital.Seldomhas

a gamebetweentheseteams hadsuch

relevance to thequalificationcampaign.

Mmntum...

Puanwn

thpay-ff pas

Europeanclubs– wastheproductofthe

questionabledecisiontoproceed with the

CopaAmericainthesummerinsteadof

usingthe timetocatchup on qualifiers.

Theeffects of theCopahavebeen

felt,mostnoticeablyinthreesides:first,

Argentina,whoseconfidencehasbeen

boosted by winninga title;secondly,

Ecuador– an interestingworkinprogress

underGustavo Alfaro.Responsibilityis

beinghandedto a promisinggeneration,

butintheCopait wasclearthatthey

weretooopendefensively. A counter-

attackingspecialist,Alfarohas tightened

themup.AftertheCopatheyconceded

justthreegoalsand pickedup 14 points

• only BrazilandArgentinadidbetter.
  A placeinQataris theirsforthetaking.
  Andthenthereis Peru,whoappear
  tobefollowinga similarscripttothe
  2018 campaign,whentheygotoffto a
  dreadfulstart,regroupedinthe 2 016
  Copaandfoundthe momentumthat

Sak...Uuguay fah osaTabaz

Quaf...Baz
anAgntnaha
bthsuth
pasnQata

impssng...euaan thg f quafyngfa futhW cupnthast sxattmpts

Goingdown3-0toBoliviabrought

thecurtaindownonaspellof

almost 16 yearsforOscarTabarez