Bolivia strikes Argentina in a 6 – 1 victory

Argentina’s misery was completed when substitute Angel di Maria was sent off after only seven minutes on the pitch. Maradona’s team has 19 points from 12 games in the 10-team South American Zone while Bolivia has 12 points. Argentina’s attempts to keep possession were thwarted as the ball bobbled on the difficult pitch, while Maradona looked on helplessly. Bolivia employed their usual tactic of pepper-shots, hoping the unusual flight of the ball would catch out goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo. Carrizo had already turned away one Martin shot before Bolivia went ahead in the 12th minute when the Ukraine based forward scrambled the ball in after a mix-up in the defense. Torrico then hit the crossbar with a 30-metre effort. Lionel Messi nearly pulled one back in the 20th minute when he ran from the halfway line, played a one-two with Carlos Tevez and scooped the ball over Carlos Arias who just managed to tip it away. Five minutes later, Luis Gonzalez leveled with a speculative 40-metre shot which bounced awkwardly six meters in front of goal and flew over Arias into the net.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi, right, reacts at the end of a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match in La Paz, Wednesday, April 1, Bolivia won 6-1. AP

Bolivia regained the lead eight minutes later when Javier Zanetti was judged to have fouled Da Rosa and Botero converted the penalty. In the 45th minute, Arias sent a long goal kick up field to Botero who got behind the Argentina defense and pulled the ball back for Da Rosa to head the third. Botero, who plays in the Mexican second division for Correcaminos, headed Bolivia’s fourth in the 54th minute. He completed his hat-trick 11 minutes later when he latched on to a chipped ball forward and slipped a neat finish past Carrizo for his eighth goal of the qualifiers. Di Maria, who came on for Maxi Rodriguez in the 57th minute was sent off for a wild lunge at Ronald Garcia seven minutes later.

There are four leading teams on the table from South America to prepare for the 2010 world cup in South Africa with the 5th team decider on the table ready to play against New Zealand

A total of 4 teams from South America have so far made it into the final 32 teams to compete in the World Cup 2010 to take place in South Africa, and depending on which team comes out on top of the table from the South American Championship table they will go on to play off the champions of the South Pacific Zone, New Zealand. The winner of that match will compete at the final match of World Cup 2010.