Uruguay stumble again as Bolivia, Venezuela rise

Copa America champions Uruguay's alarming away form continued on Tuesday as they lost for the third successive time, hammered 4-1 by Bolivia in La Paz in their 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifier.

A hat-trick by Carlos Saucedo and a Gualberto Mojica goal gave the hosts a 4-0 lead, with the Uruguayans sole response a goal nine minutes from time from striker Luis Suarez.

The defeat - which follows a 4-0 thrashing by Colombia and a 3-0 defeat by Argentina last Friday - saw them drop to fifth spot in the table.

Venezuela moved above them into the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot for the finals with a 1-1 home draw with Ecuador.

Chile could go above both of them later on Tuesday - they are below Uruguay solely on goal difference - when they host table-toppers Argentina.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez refused to offer as an excuse the fact his side were missing three of their first choice defenders, captain Diego Lugano, Diego Godin and Martin Caceres who were all suspended.

Instead the coach, who guided Uruguay to the 2010 FIFA World Cup semi-finals and then to the Copa America title last year, said that they had to arrest this slump before they play their next qualifier against Paraguay next March.

"Bolivia were very good and deserved to win," said Tabarez.

"We have to get out of this situation and we need to work hard on the solution, because obviously things are not good for us at the moment, it is not something we are used to for we have enjoyed some great moments together."

However, the 65-year-old said they had to pull themselves together if they are to qualify for the finals in Brazil in two years time.

"What we need to do now is to work on ensuring we make the finals by being in the top five (the fifth placed team go into a play-off) when qualifying is over," he said.

His Bolivian counterpart Xabier Azkargorta said he could dream again of reaching the finals, as victory took them onto eight points with seven matches remaining.

"This victory opens up the possibility of qualifying," he said.

"There are 21 points still available to us. We will fight as hard as we can for those points, we will battle all the way and we will endeavour to get better and better than we have been to succeed."

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Colombia, Venezuela surprise winners

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Radamel Falcao put in a man of the match display as Colombia came from a goal down to claim a surprise 3-1 win at Chile in the South American 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers.

In an encounter that saw both sides reduced to ten men, Atletico Madrid striker Falcao scored one and set up another as Colombia remained in second place in the table.

Despite midfielder Gary Medel being sent off in the 34th minute for hitting Luis Perea, Chile took a half-time lead through Matias Fernandez following a blunder from the Colombian defence.

In the 41st minute Chile's Matias Fernandez struck from outside the box to beat Colombia keeper David Ospina.

However, James Rodriguez levelled just before the hour mark with a free-kick, while Aldo Ramirez teed up Falcao, who put Colombia ahead in the 73rd minute at the Estadio Monumental.

Two minutes later, Teofilo Gutierrez linked up with Falcao before finishing with aplomb although Colombia were also then reduced to ten men when defender Abel Aguilar was sent off for a second bookable offence with six minutes remaining.

"This is a magnificent win for us. We were sure it was going to happen," Falcao told reporters in Santiago. "This is the result of the maturity of a team who did not give up after Chile's goal."

Colombia are now on 13 points in the CONMEBOL qualifying zone, the same as Ecuador, who played out a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in Montevideo.

Former Manchester City striker Felipe Caicedo put Ecuador ahead with a seventh minute penalty before Edinson Cavani gave the Uruguayans a share of the spoils in the 66th minute.

Ecuador then saw Manchester United midfielder Antonio Valencia sent off in injury time.

Argentina remain top of the group despite a 1-1 draw at Peru in Lima. Carlos Zambrano had put the hosts in front after 22 minutes but Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain (38) drew level for Argentina.

Salomon Rondon's double gave Venezuela a shock 2-0 victory at Paraguay. Rondon struck in either half as Venezuela strengthened their hold on sixth on 11 points, just one point off an automatic qualifying position.

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