Uruguay beats Colombia 3-2 on last-minute goal in South American qualifying
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Uruguay beat Colombia 3-2 on Friday with a last-minute goal in South American World Cup qualifying, and eased the pressure on coach Marcelo Bielsa.
It was Uruguay’s first home win in a year and its first victory overall since the latest Copa America edition in July.
Juan Fernando Quintero opened the scoring for the visitors in the 31st minute with a surprising direct free kick shot from the left edge of the penalty box. The hosts equalized in the 57th minute with an own goal by Davinson Sánchez.
Rodrigo Aguirre put the hosts in front three minutes later in front of 40,000 raucous fans with a crossed shot — his first national team goal.
The most dramatic moments of the match in Montevideo came in injury time. André Gomez equalized for Colombia in the 96th minute from close range, but Manuel Ugarte gave the hosts the victory four minutes later with a shot from the edge of the box.
Later, Peru and Chile drew 0-0 in Lima. They will remain at the bottom of the standings.
Bielsa has been under fire since October, when just-retired striker Luis Suárez criticized him f or the way he treated players during the Copa America, saying the “friction” hurts. Other Uruguay players did not defend their coach from the criticism, and Bielsa himself admitted his grasp over the team was shaken.
“I believe that wins like tonight’s are healing,” Bielsa said at a media conference. “It was a thrilling match. It was evident that the players’ willpower was needed for such a victory, though it looked impossible after an equalizer so late in the match. We needed this.”
Colombia coach Néstor Lorenzo said he was frustrated.
“Uruguay has players of a lot of skill, they demand a lot from us, we can’t make mistakes,” Lorenzo said. “In the three goals they scored there were rebounds, pushes. We knew they had powerful strikers that could hurt us.”
The match in Montevideo was the first since the two teams clashed in a tense semifinal at the latest Copa America, with the Colombians reaching the final. Darwin Núñez and about a dozen Uruguay teammates went into the stands as fans brawled at Bank of America Stadium following a 1-0 loss to Colombia in a semifinal.
Argentina, which lost 2-1 to Paraguay on Thursday, remains on top of the 10-team South American round-robin competition with 22 points in 11 matches, with Uruguay and Colombia three points behind. Brazil is in fourth place in the standings with 17 points after its 1-1 draw at Venezuela.
Also on Thursday, Ecuador beat Bolivia 4-0. The Ecuadorians remain in fifth position with 16 points, while Bolivia is in eighth place with 12 points.
Next Tuesday, Uruguay will travel to Brazil and Colombia will host Ecuador.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
By RAMIRO BARREIRO
Associated Press
