Lionel Scaloni’s men were held 0-0 by Paraguay in their latest 2022 World Cup qualifying game. Elsewhere, Brazil beat Venezuela 3-1 to stay perfect in the competition and strengthen their hold on the top spot.
Argentina fell eight points behind Brazil in the South American World Cup Qualifiers table after their latest draw. The Albiceleste were held by Paraguay to a nil-all stalemate, despite their best attempts to breach the opposition goal. Nevertheless, Lionel Messi and co. remain three points clear of third-placed Ecuador with a game in hand.
Messi was pulling the strings for Argentina during the game, as usual. His through pass in the 10th minute created the first big opening of the match for Joaquin Correa – whose angled shot was saved by Antony Silva in goal.
Messi played Correa through on goal again two minutes later, but this time, the Inter Milan forward scuffed his lines, and the ball was cleared by the opposition defence.
Emiliano Martinez was called into action in the second half, and he kept the scores level with two superb stops; first, from Miguel Almiron and later, Antonio Sanabria. Silva matched his counterpart by denying Rodrigo De Paul and then Alejandro Gomez from distance, as the match ended 0-0.
In Caracas, Brazil came from a goal down to beat Venezuela 3-1 and maintain their perfect run in the qualification campaign. The home side took the lead in the 11th minute through Eric Ramirez, who capitalized on some poor defending before heading the ball past Alisson. Brazil created plenty of openings for themselves but were let down by poor finishing in the absence of Neymar.
The Selecao’s fortunes turned around in the 71st minute when centre-back Marquinhos headed in from a corner. Shortly after, Oscar Gonzalez brought down Gabriel Barbosa with a cynical challenge inside the box, and the latter stepped up to give Brazil the lead from the penalty spot.
Ajax attacker Antony added gloss to the scoreline deep into stoppage time as he tapped the ball into an unguarded net after some good work by Raphinha down by the touchline.
Having accumulated maximum points so far in the qualifiers, Brazil will meet Colombia next (October 10), while Argentina will take on Uruguay (October 11).
