The results of the rest of the ninth date of the tie ended up helping the Colombia selection, who is still in the repechage zone for him Qatar World Cup 2022. However, the team’s box is still out of square: the win in Quito against Ecuador and the 0-3 against Uruguay in Barranquilla have the team outside the direct quotas, due to goal difference.
Although the technician Reinaldo Rueda and several players have described the tie in La Paz as a “golden point”, there is already a deficit when compared to what was obtained against the same rivals in the two previous qualifying rounds, in which Colombia achieved qualification (see graph).
(It may interest you: Vibrant and devastating! Great triumph of ‘Supermán’ López in Vuelta a España)
And, although the squad could be right, the truth is that the National Team had just won in Bolivia both on the road to Brazil 2014 and on the road to Russia 2018.
There is an additional factor that can complicate the fight for qualification to Qatar, and that is the fact that Ecuador he is still riding at the top of the table and is already three points ahead of Colombia, with his 2-0 win against Paraguay in Quito. It is a direct quota that is turning yellow, blue and red, but not that of Rueda and his team.
Now, the match against Paraguay in Asunción becomes key to thinking about the dispute of a direct box to the World Cup. And even the playoffs: if we go back to the antecedents, Colombia won at Defensores del Chaco in the last five heats, although it must be noted that in two of them it already had its path defined: eliminated in 2009 and classified in 2014. And in that stadium, even winning, he sentenced his elimination in 2001 and 2005.
(Also. Meluk tells him … (It was not ‘a golden point’: two were lost …)
The other match of this triple date for Colombia will be against Chile in Barranquilla. That rival has become the ‘bogeyman’ of the National Team for several years: they have not beaten him at home in a tie since 2001, in Bogotá.
The 1-1 draw in 2005 practically eliminated her from Germany 2006; the 2-4 of 2009 put Chile in South Africa 2010 and the 0-0 of 2016 put José Pékerman’s team in trouble in the tie against Russia. The only pleasant and recent memory was 3-3 in 2013, when Colombia secured qualification to Brazil 2014. Of course, they had a disastrous first half before.
(In other news: López and Egan: do they have a chance to finish on the Vuelta podium?)
Was La Paz a golden point? All have joined there, except Venezuela. We will have to wait for what happens. The truth is that last night the rivals played for Colombia (none of those below the table won) and that, despite the fact that this time they did not win in La Paz, they are still in the playoff zone. But the box is still out of square.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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