Venezuela closer to World Cup dream, Uruguay slip

Reuters: Lionel Messi struggled in the thin air of La Paz, fluffing a gilt-edged chance to end his goal drought against Bolivia, while Colombia marksman Radamel Falcao was kept scoreless in Venezuela on Tuesday.

However, with a rampant Ecuador crushing Paraguay 4-1 in Quito, South America’s top three teams remain in charge of their World Cup qualifying chances as the race for the region’s fourth direct ticket to the 2014 finals in Brazil hotted up.

Uruguay, Copa America holders and the region’s best-performing team at the 2010 World Cup, lost 2-0 in Chile and sank below the qualifying line as their opponents and Venezuela climbed above them into fourth and fifth.

Argentina managed well in the thin air at nearly 4,000 metres in La Paz to draw 1-1 with Bolivia, putting behind them the 6-1 defeat suffered by Diego Maradona’s team four years ago. But they might have won had Messi made the most of a late chance.

Messi stole the ball from a defender and came face to face with Sergio Galarza but a moment’s hesitation cost him dear and allowed the goalkeeper to block his shot.

That preserved Bolivia’s record as the only South American team to have denied the little ace a goal.

Colombia went to Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela seeking a fifth win in a row after their 5-0 rout of Bolivia at home on Friday but they came away empty-handed as striker Jose Salomon Rondon scored the only goal for the home side.

Ecuador made it six wins out of six home matches in their Atahualpa stronghold nearly 3,000 metres up in the Andes mountains, with two goals from striker Jefferson Montero. Uruguay have a bye on 7 June and will watch the middle positions in the table closely as Venezuela visit Bolivia and Chile travel to Paraguay.