0 to 10-man Paraguay and Argentina needed a stoppage-time equalizer to hold Ecuador 1-1 at home in South American World Cup qualifiers on Sunday. Chile completed a dramatic day by winning 2-0 at high altitude in Bolivia with two goals from defender Gary Medel, the first a bicycle kick. Brazil and Argentina's poor displays should add to the usual spice when the two meet in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday in the next round of matches. Paraguay's win in Asuncion, its fourth in the last eight matches against Brazil, took it three points clear at the top of the 10-team group with 13 points from five games. Argentina is second with 10, followed by Colombia (9), Brazil (8), Venezuela and Chile (7) and Uruguay (5). The top four teams qualify directly for the 2010 World Cup and the fifth play off against a side from the CONCACAF region. Paraguay twice hit the woodwork and was rarely troubled by Brazil despite having defender Dario Veron sent off in the 48th minute. Striker Roque Santa Cruz side-footed Paraguay ahead from close range in the 26th minute and set up the second for Salvador Cabanas one minute after Veron's dismissal. “There are days when things don't work,” said Brazil coach Dunga, whose team lost 2-0 to Venezuela in a friendly 10 days ago. “We didn't have any difficulty on controlling our opponents,” said Santa Cruz. In Buenos Aires, substitute Rodrigo Palacio came on in the 89th minute and scored the winner five minutes later with the last kick of the game after the Ecuador defense lost concentration. The visitors, who have four points, went ahead when midfielder Patricio Urrutia rifled a 20-meter shot in off the crossbar following a clever Carlos Tenorio backheel in the 69th minute. “We were lucky to draw the match with the last move of the game,” said Argentina coach Alfio Basile. “We played well in our last games and today we didn't. There's not much to add.” Bolivia was delighted to be able to face Chile in La Paz at 3,600 meters above sea level after FIFA last month overturned a ban on internationals at high altitude. But its joy dissolved on the half hour when Medel scored with an overhead kick from 12 meters. The defender then finished off the hosts with another goal from a corner in the 77th minute. As well as the altitude, both teams had to contend with a shocking pitch at the Hernando Siles stadium. US hit eight The United States began World Cup qualifying with a crushing 8-0 win over Barbados while Trinidad & Tobago's hopes of repeating its 2006 Finals appearance were dented by a 2-1 home loss to Bermuda on Sunday. In other second preliminary round first-leg matches, Jamaica hammered Bahamas 7-0, Canada won 3-0 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Mexico stuttered to a 2-0 win over Belize in the first meeting of the two neighbours. US captain Landon Donovan had complained about the format of the CONCACAF qualifiers, which forces the region's top nations to play two-leg ties against rank outsiders for a place in the group stage, but he had little to worry about against Barbados. Clint Dempsey opened the scoring when he turned in Carlos Bocanegra's pass after only 53 seconds, Michael Bradley fired the second after 12 minutes and Brian Ching made it 3-0 in Carson, California. Dempsey and Ching added further goals in the second half while Donovan and Eddie Johnson were also on target and Daryl Ferguson put through his own goal. The only goalless draw was in Port-au-Prince where Haiti was held by Netherlands Antilles. – Agencies __
