Rounds 5 & 6 are in the books and the race for South America’s four automatic qualifying spots is heating up. A third of the way through the schedule, Brazil is relegated to the robin round with a North American runner up. Paraguay won at home beating Brazil 2-0 but suffered its first loss on Wednesday in the altitude of La Paz losing to Bolivia 4-2 but remains atop the stands. Argentina tied Ecuador at home and Brazil away to keep its hold on second place. Chile had the best week possible, winning two critical road games to climb in the standings from 7th to 4th. Colombia, despite suffering from a paucity of goals, tied twice on the road and is now the sole undefeated team in the regional and took over sole possession of third place.

Standings

Round 5
Uruguay v Venezuela 1-1
Argentina v Ecuador 1-1
Paraguay v Brazil 1-1
Peru v Colombia 1-1
Bolivia v Chile 0-2

Round 6
Uruguay v Peru 6-0
Bolivia v Paraguay 4-2
Brazil v Argentina 0-0
Ecuador v Colombia 0-0
Venezuela v Chile 2-3

Puntos de Oro
The South American FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifiers pit each team in a continent-wide two year long home and way series against the others. The top four gain the automatic berths and the fifth place team earns a home and way qualification round against the runner up from North America. There are a total of 18 games and 54 total possible points, 27 at home and 27 on the road. A win is worth three points and a draw one. For teams to assure themselves of securing a top spot, it is imperative to win or draw on the road. Points won on the road are called puntos de oro or golden points. Chile won six golden points this week with its wins in Bolivia and Venezuela. Venezuela, in turn, won one golden point by tying Uruguay in Montevideo. Colombia, by virtue of its ties in Lima and Quito, took home two. Ecuador almost beat Argentina in Buenos Aires but a last minute goal forced Ecaudor to settle for tie but it still earned a golden point. And Argentina won a valuable golden point by drawing 0-0 with Brazil.

Seleção
Brazil’s goalless duel with Argentina in the latest round of South American qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa gave the media in both countries plenty to chew on. And while Argentine coach Alfio Basile and his men received a passing mark from the Argentine football press, there was nothing but condemnation for Brazil’s coach, Dunga, as the Brazilian press returned a damning verdict after a loss away and a tie at home against the group leaders. Brazil’s situation is perilous though 12 games remain. In a poll by the Brazilian sports daily Lance!, 91.7% of Brazilians felt Dunga should be fired.

Round 7
The next set of matches are scheduled for early September. Round 8 will follow in October.
In football, the home team is listed first.

Peru v Venezuela
Colombia v Uruguay
Argentina v Paraguay
Chile v Brazil
Ecuador v Bolivia

The Argentina v Paraguay match is a battle for first place while Brazil will fight for its life in Santiago against a suddenly ascendent Chile. Colombia looks to score quite frankly. While Colombia has not lost as yet, it has tied four of its first six matches , three of them with a 0-0 score.

Full results are at FIFA COMEBOL.

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