Ecstatic welcome
home for triumphant
Afghan cricketers
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2013
16
Del Potro sends
Nadal packing
18
Gazi’s maiden ton lights up run-laden Test against NZ Page 16
ECUADOR: Uruguayan Luis Suarez (center) vies for the ball with Ecuadoreans Cristian Noboa (left) Frickson Erazo (right) and an unidentified player during their Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier match. — AFP
Colombia qualify, Uruguay face likely playoff
BUENOS AIRES: Colombia qualified for the 2014
World Cup finals while Ecuador and Chile all but
sealed tickets on Friday leaving Uruguay most
likely to play a fourth successive inter-continental playoff to join them in Brazil next year.
Colombia fought back with striker Radamel
Falcao converting two late penalties against a
Chile side inspired by Alexis Sanchez’s first-half
brace for a 3-3 draw and the point that put them
in their first finals since 1998 with a match to
spare.
“I was surprised by what happened to us ... it
could have been due the pressure accumulated
over a long time,” said Colombia’s coach Jose
Pekerman after his side, who had won five home
qualifiers in a row, conceded three goals in the
opening half hour before fighting back.
“I’m very proud of my team, I’ve rarely seen a
national team in this kind of match get back from
3-0 down,” the Argentine told the post-match
news conference.
Chile’s coach Jorge Sampaoli, said: “Bitter
about the final result, given how things went in
the first half, and now hopeful going to seek the
match that will give our qualification.”
Chile went ahead with a penalty by Arturo
Vidal in the 19th minute after striker Eduardo
Vargas was brought down. Sanchez then scored
twice in seven minutes to stun the Colombians
and put Chile three up inside the opening half
hour.
With Chile having lost Carlos Carmona to a
red card in the 66th minute, Teo Gutierrez pulled
one back in the 69th and fellow striker Falcao
added two penalties in the last 15 to secure
Colombia the point they needed.
Montero put Ecuador ahead when he ghosted in behind Maxi Pereira to steer the ball home
as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera failed to cut out
Antonio Valencia’s cross.
In Quito, Jefferson Montero scored on the half
hour to give Ecuador a 1-0 home win over
Uruguay and climb to third in the South
American group behind leaders Argentina, who
qualified last month, and Colombia. The Ecuador
team did a lap in honour of their late team mate
Cristian Benitez, who died suddenly of heart failure in July.
Venezuela’s slim hopes of going to the finals
for the first time ended in a 1-1 draw at home to
Paraguay, while a rampant Argentina, without
Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain, beat Peru 3-1
in Buenos Aires with Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring
twice after Claudio Pizarro’s fine 21st-minute
opener for Peru.
The fifth-place playoff berth has become a
Uruguay fixture at the last three World Cups with
them qualifying that way in 2002 and 2010,
when they went on to reach the semi-finals,
though they lost to Australia in the playoff in
2006.
Finishing fifth will put them into a two-legged
playoff agtainst Asian qualifiers Jordan next
month. The defeat in Ecuador where Luis Suarez,
joint top scorer with Messi in the group with 10
goals, came closest to an equaliser with a dipping free kick has left Uruguay with a tough task
on Tuesday to beat Argentina by a big score in a
bid for an automatic ticket.
A draw in Santiago, where Chile host Ecuador,
will ensure both take the last two automatic
places in Brazil. Ecuador have a goal difference of
plus five, Chile plus three and Uruguay, who are
three points behind them both, minus one.
Going into Tuesday’s last round of the
marathon 16-match group, Argentina have 32
points, Colombia 27, Ecuador and Chile 25 and
Uruguay 22. — Reuters
Neymar scores stunner as
Brazil defeat South Korea
SEOUL: Brazil star Neymar weathered some harsh
attention before scoring a stunning free-kick as
he led the World Cup hosts to a 2-0 friendly win
over South Korea yesterday.
The Barcelona forward curled his shot past
Korean goalie Jung Sung-Ryong just before halftime, with Chelsea’s Oscar getting the visitors’
second shortly after the break.
Neymar, 21, had been in doubt for the game
after a heavy fall in training, and he was hit with
some tough challenges and constant close marking in front of a near-capacity crowd.
But the young idol had the last laugh at Seoul
World Cup Stadium when he thumped his strike
over the wall and to the right of Jung, who got a
hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
Neymar was targeted from start to finish as
Hong Myung-Bo’s team, already qualified for next
year’s World Cup, opted for tactics of harassment
and frustration.
The Brazilian threw up his hands in exasperation and had a few testy moments with other
players, even getting into a shoving match near
the team benches late in the first half.
“I think we simply played football, whereas
South Korea tried too hard,” said Brazil coach Luiz
Felipe Scolari. “In the first half, they had twice as
many fouls as we had. I think they were fouling
too much early on.” Hong Myung-Bo defended
his players’ physical play, saying they “played it
fair and didn’t lose their cool.”
“Some of our players are still young and I think
they will learn from this experience,” said Hong,
who has just one victory in seven matches since
taking over in June.
“I am sure they gained confidence from this,
and it’s an important part of our team. That alone
is a major plus for us.”
After a tepid start to the game, Neymar took
the ball in midfield and danced through defend-
ers before threading a pass to Oscar, whose shot
travelled over the bar.
But after being brought down for the
umpteenth time, Neymar took matters into his
own hands as he opened the scoring with his free
kick. Brazil doubled their lead just three minutes
into the second half. Paulinho put Oscar through
and the midfielder went past the helpless Jung
before putting it into the gaping net.
South Korea brought on Son Heung-Min in
the 65th minute, hoping the Bayer Leverkusen
winger could add some spark to the lethargic
attack.
And the home side were more lively in the last
half-hour, with Lee Chung-Yong heading a corner
wide in the 68th minute. It was as close as South
Korea came to scoring, as the five-time World Cup
champions outclassed the hosts. South Korea will
next host Mali on Tuesday, while Brazil will take
on Zambia on the same day in Beijing. — AFP
World Cup European qualifying results/standings
Group A
Croatia 1, Belgium 2; Wales 1, Macedonia 0.
P W D L F
Belgium•
9 8
1 0 17
Croatia
9 5
2 2 12
Serbia
9 3
2 4 13
Wales
9 3
0 6 8
Scotland
9 2
2 5 6
Macedonia
9 2
1 6 6
• Qualified for 2014 World Cup finals
A
3
7
10
19
12
11
Pts
25
17
11
9
8
7
Group B
Malta 1, Czech Republic 4; Denmark 2, Italy 2;
Armenia 2, Bulgaria 1.
Italy•
9 6
3 0 17
Bulgaria
9 3
4 2 14
Denmark
9 3
4 2 11
Czech Republic 9 3
3 3 12
Armenia
9 4
0 5 10
Malta
9 1
0 8 5
• Qualified for 2014 World Cup finals
7
8
12
9
11
22
21
13
13
12
12
3
Group C
Sweden 2, Austria 1; Faroe Islands 1, Kazakhstan
1; Germany 3, Ireland 0.
Germany•
9 8
1 0 31
Sweden
9 6
2 1 16
Austria
9 4
2 3 17
Ireland
9 3
2 4 13
Kazakhstan
9 1
2 6 5
Faroe Islands
9 0
1 8 4
• Qualified for 2014 World Cup finals
7
9
10
16
18
26
25
20
14
11
5
1
Group D
Netherlands 8, Hungary 1; Andorra 0, Romania 4;
Estonia 0, Turkey 2.
Netherlands•
9 8
1 0 32
Turkey
9 5
1 3 16
Romania
9 5
1 3 17
Hungary
9 4
2 3 19
Estonia
9 2
1 6 6
Andorra
9 0
0 9 0
• Qualified for 2014 World Cup finals
5
7
12
20
18
28
25
16
16
14
7
0
Group E
Slovenia 3, Norway 0; Albania 1, Switzerland 2
Iceland 2, Cyprus 0.
Switzerland•
9 6
3 0 16
Iceland
9 5
1 3 16
Slovenia
9 5
0 4 14
Norway
9 3
2 4 9
Albania
9 3
1 5 9
Cyprus
9 1
1 7 4
• Qualified for 2014 World Cup finals
6
14
10
12
11
15
21
16
15
11
10
4
Group F
Portugal 1, Israel 1; Luxembourg 0, Russia 4;
Azerbaijan 2, Northern Ireland 0.
Russia
Portugal
Israel
Azerbaijan
Northern Ireland
Luxembourg
9
9
9
9
9
9
7
5
3
1
1
1
0
3
4
5
3
3
2
1
2
3
5
5
19
17
18
6
8
7
4
9
13
10
16
23
21
18
13
8
6
6
Group G
Lithuania 2 Latvia 0; Greece 1 Slovakia 0; Bosnia 4
Liechtenstein 1.
Bosnia
Greece
Slovakia
Lithuania
Latvia
Liechtenstein
9
9
9
9
9
9
7
7
3
3
2
0
1
1
3
2
1
2
1
1
3
4
6
7
29
10
9
9
8
4
6
4
8
10
18
23
22
22
12
11
7
2
Group H
Ukraine 1, Poland 0; Moldova 3, San Marino 0;
England 4, Montenegro 1.
England
Ukraine
Montenegro
Poland
Moldova
San Marino
9
9
9
9
9
9
5
5
4
3
2
0
4
3
3
4
2
0
0
1
2
2
5
9
29
20
16
18
7
1
4
4
12
10
15
46
19
18
15
13
8
0
0
1
2
4
6
12
12
5
3
7
3
6
6
8
16
17
14
9
5
4
Group I
Spain 2, Belarus 1.
Spain
France
Finland
Georgia
Belarus
7
7
7
7
8
5
4
2
1
1
2
2
3
2
1