The CONMEBOL (South America) Region has a full set of matches on Wednesday as a few teams looked to clinch spots in South Africa next summer. Brazil already was qualified and countries Chile and Paraguay able to earn spots if they earned victories on Wednesday night. Other countries like Argentina have been struggling and needed results to stay in good position with only two matches left after the Wednesday matches. Here’s a recap of all the matches along with video highlights.
CONMEBOL 2010 World Cup Qualifying Recap
Argentina lost again in qualifying as they are in 5th place and only 1 point above Uruguay and Venezuela, and only 2 points above Colombia. After Wednesday’s matches, the difference from 4th to 8th in the qualifying table is only 3 points so it seems like to come down to the last matchday for the last automatic spot (4th) and the playoff spot (5th). Brazil cruised again and looks to be one of the favorites in South Africa next summer. Paraguay is another country that is now automatically qualified and has been strong throughout the entire qualifying stage.
The biggest story remains Argentina’s inability to get consistent results despite having a roster of world class stars and arguably the best player right now (Lionel Messi) in the world. Manager Diego Maradona will be fired if Argentina doesn’t qualify and he’s already facing serious pressure. While he was a legend for the National Team as a player, his inability to get the team to play up to its potential had led to Argentina needing to win its final two matches of qualification or possibly miss out on next summer’s FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa.
Video Highlights
| Wednesday, September 9, 2009 | |||||
| Status | Home | Score | Away | STAGE | VENUE (ATT.) |
| FT | Bolivia | 1 - 3 | Ecuador | Qualifying Stage | Hernando Siles |
| FT | Uruguay | 3 - 1 | Colombia | Qualifying Stage | Centenario |
| FT | Paraguay | 1 - 0 | Argentina | Qualifying Stage | Defensores del Chaco |
| FT | Venezuela | 3 - 1 | Peru | Qualifying Stage | General Anzoátegui |
| FT | Brazil | 4 - 2 | Chile | Qualifying Stage | Pituaçu |
Standings through Wednesday, September 9, 2009
| September 9, 2009Qualifying Stage Table | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | P | ||||
| 1 |  | Brazil | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 32 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 5 | 23 | 33 | |||
| 2 |  | Paraguay | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 30 | |||
| 3 |  | Chile | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 27 | |||
| 4 | | Ecuador | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 21 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 18 | -2 | 23 | |||
| 5 | | Argentina | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 22 | |||
| 6 | | Uruguay | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 26 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 21 | |||
| 7 | | Venezuela | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | -5 | 21 | |||
| 8 | | Colombia | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | -4 | 20 | |||
| 9 | | Bolivia | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 23 | -14 | 12 | |||
| 10 | | Peru | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 32 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 24 | -23 | 10 | |||
| Qualifies for World Cup: 1st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th Play-off with a nation from CONCACAF: 5th |
