CONMEBOL
With Argentina qualifying
automatically as holders, the other 9 countries were divided into three groups
with the winners going through to the finals in Spain.
GROUP ONE: Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela
GROUP TWO: Colombia, Peru, Uruguay
GROUP THREE: Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay
GROUP ONE
Bolivia, Brazil and
Venezuela
The matches in this group
were played between February and March 1981.
Venezuela were the hosts for the first game of the group as Brazil were
the visitors to Caracas. No goals going
into the final 10 minutes when Brazil earned a penalty. A scramble in the box saw Serginho’s shot
saved by one of the Venezuelan defenders and the referee had no hesitation in
awarding a penalty. Zico stepped up and
scored to give Brazil a 1-0 win.
A week later, Venezuela
travelled to La Paz to play Bolivia. Goals
from Aragones, Aguilar and Reynardo gave Bolivia a comfortable 3-0 win, and put
paid to any hopes Venezuela had of qualifying.
Brazil then visited La Paz, and took an early lead when Eder’s cross
from the left wing was turned in at the far post by Socrates, after just 6
minutes. But midway through the first
half Bolivia had a corner on the right and Brazilian keeper, Waldir, completely
misjudged it and Carlos Aragones had the simple task of heading the ball in for
the equaliser. Then on the hour-mark a
swift attack saw Reinaldo strike from about 25 yards out and that proved the
winner for Brazil. They later had Cerezo
sent-off, but still managed to hold onto the win.
Venezuela then beat
Bolivia for a rare win for them, and this meant Bolivia would now have to win
in the Maracana and hope Venezuela could do the same, otherwise Brazil would
stroll through to the finals. When
Bolivia arrived in Rio, they gave Brazil a penalty after 20 minutes when a
through ball from Junior found Reinaldo unmarked in the box and for some
inexplicable reason, the Bolivian keeper, Jimenez, came charging out and
completely wiped the striker out. Zico
then coolly converted the penalty. In
the second half, Reinaldo’s shot came back off the bar and Zico was there to
score his 2nd of the night.
Bolivia actually came back into it when Junior brought down the
right-back, Trigo, in the area and Carlos Aragones converted the penalty to
make it 1-2. Then with 5 minutes
remaining, Brazil had a free-kick on the edge of the ‘D’ and Zico curled it
over the wall and past Jimenez to complete his hat-trick. That 3-1 win secured qualification for the
Brazilians.
A week later they
welcomed the Venezuelans to Goiania.
After 30 minutes, a free-kick on the right from Getulio was headed in by
Flamengo striker, Tita to give Brazil the lead.
10 minutes into the second half, Junior took a free-kick on the left
near the touchline. His ball floated
into the area was headed in by Socrates.
2 minutes later Getulio crossed from the right and Tita got up and
powered a header towards goal. It was
saved on the line where Zico then tried to score from the rebound and his shot
was also blocked on the line, before Tita eventually knocked in that rebound. Then in the 72nd minute, Ze
Sergio’s run down the left wing came to an end when he was tripped in the area
and Zico, also a Flamengo player, again scored from the spot to make it
4-0. With just 6 minutes to go, the
third Flamengo player in the team, Junior, made a trademark run from the back
and Zico found him, sending him clear to easily beat the keeper and Brazil had
rounded off a perfect campaign with a 5-0 win.
QUALIFIER: Brazil
GROUP TWO
Colombia, Peru, Uruguay
This group completed its
games between end of July and mid-September 1981. Peru would be considered the favourites after
their performances in Argentina 1978, yet they were on a run of no win in their
last 10 internationals. First up was a
meeting between Colombia and Peru in Bogota.
Peru had a great chance to take the lead in the first half when they
were awarded a penalty, but Cubillas saw his shot saved by the Colombian
keeper. In the 64th minute
Peru failed to properly clear a corner and Herrera’s shot from the edge of the
area gave Colombia the lead. They looked
like they were going to hang on but then Guillermo La Rosa rose above the
defence to head home the equaliser 4 minutes from time. 1-1 was the result and proved this group was
going to be tight.
Two weeks later Colombia
travelled to Montevideo to take on Uruguay.
Uruguay hadn’t lost at home since West Germany beat them 1-2 in June
1977. Ruben Paz put them ahead after 20
minutes, only for Sarmiento to equalise just before half-time. Herrera then put Colombia in front on the
hour and looked as if they were going to pull off a shock. But with 10 minutes to go, Julio Morales
brought the home side level and then with just 2 minutes to go, he converted a
penalty to give Uruguay a dramatic 3-2 win.
Colombia then travelled
to Lima knowing anything other than a win would ruin their chances of going
through. Peru took a 5th
minute lead when Barbadillo headed a cross in at the far post. Then in the second half, Uribe converted a
penalty and Peru won 2-0. That was
Colombia out and so the double-header between Peru and Uruguay would decide the
winner of the group. Their first meeting
was in Montevideo. Peru had the better
of the first half and with 6 minutes of the first period left, went in front
when La Rosa fired them in front.
Two minutes into the
second half a great run from Velasquez took out most of the defence, and when
he let in Uribe, the Peruvian fired the visitors into a 2-0 lead. Victorino got a goal back for the home side
but Peru pulled off a crucial and important 2-1 win to put them in pole
position in the group. In September the
two met again, in Lima. Uruguay needed
to win but just couldn’t break down the home side and the game ended 0-0 to put
Peru through. Colombia and Uruguay then
played out a 1-1 which was academic.
QUALIFIER: Peru
GROUP THREE
Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay
Group Three played their
matches from late May to late June 1981.
Ecuador took on Paraguay in Guayaquil.
Klinger scored the only goal of the game and Ecuador won 1-0. A week later at the same venue Ecuador and
Chile played out a 0-0 draw. Ecuador
then travelled to Asuncion for the return fixture with Paraguay. A win would see them very close to their
first ever appearance in the finals.
After a goalless first half, Paraguay scored 3 times in the second half
through Anoli, Morel and Romero. Ecuador
pulled one back but Paraguay’s 3-1 win gave them renewed hope. If Paraguay could beat Chile they’d really
open the group up. But in Asuncion a
goal from Yanez on the counter-attack with 20 minutes to go, gave Chile a vital
1-0 win. Chile and Ecuador both had 3pts
with Paraguay on 2pts. In Santiago,
Chile met Ecuador. If the Chileans could
win they’d win the group, but even a defeat would still give them a chance as
they had a game to go. Goals in each
half from Rivas and Caszely gave Chile a 2-0 win, and had won the group. Then a week later Chile confirmed their group
win with a comprehensive 3-0 win at home to Paraguay.
QUALIFIER: Chile
No comments:
Post a Comment