Without their injured stars Lionel Messi and Neymar, football heavyweights Argentina and Brazil suffered heavy defeats in the World Cup qualifiers. While world champions Argentina, as leaders of the South American group, can still get over the 1:2 (0:1) defeat against Colombia, record champions Brazil are slowly starting to feel a sense of crisis after the 0:1 (0:1) defeat in Paraguay.
Already four defeats in the World Cup qualification for Brazil
The “Seleção” has already suffered its fourth defeat in the last five qualifying matches and is currently only fifth. The first six nations in the group of ten qualify for the finals in two years in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The seventh-placed team must take part in the international playoffs.
“We don’t have the best confidence at the moment,” said defender Marquinhos after the game on Tuesday (local time). “We are trying our best, but there are a lot of changes in our game at the moment.” Despite the loss of Neymar, the Brazilian offense was filled with top-class players including Vinicius Júnior, Rodrygo and Endrick from Real Madrid.
Strong James RodrÃguez draws level with Valderrama
Argentina ultimately had to admit defeat to the class of former Bayern pro James RodrÃguez. The 33-year-old set up the winning goal for Yerson Mosquera (25th minute). It was his eleventh assist in the South American World Cup qualifiers. He thus drew level with former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama.
“For us, this is a great victory against Argentina, who have won everything recently,” said RodrÃguez, who lost the Copa América final with Colombia against Argentina in July. As second in the table, the Colombians are currently the only undefeated team in the South American World Cup qualifiers.
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