Argentine forward Lionel Messi is seen during their FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 South American qualifying match against Venezuela in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday night.
BUENOS AIRES: Lionel Messi scored once and set up two goals as Argentina beat Venezuela 3-0 to remain in control of the South American qualifying race for the 2014 World Cup on Friday night.
The Argentinian skipper was the architect of two Gonzalo Higuain strikes which came either side of an emphatic Messi penalty on the stroke of half-time at the Monumental Stadium.
The Barcelona superstar was Argentina’s best player throughout, twice forcing Daniel Hernandez into scrambled saves early on before producing the pass which enabled Higuain to break the deadlock on 29 minutes.
Messi then harried Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero into conceding a penalty, which the diminutive play-maker lashed into the roof of the net for 2-0 in first half stoppage time.
A trademark jinking run and through ball for Higuain gave Argentina their third in the 59th minute as Venezuela kissed goodbye to any chance of repeating their shock 1-0 win over the Argentinians in 2011.
The victory leaves Alejandro Sabella’s side four points clear of second-placed Colombia at the top of the standings with 23 points after 10 matches.
With just six games remaining, only an unthinkable collapse will prevent the “Albicelestes” from taking their place at next year’s finals in Brazil, with a trip to La Paz to face Bolivia on Tuesday their next game.
In other games Friday night, Colombia remained on course to end their 16-year World Cup exile after sweeping aside Bolivia 5-0 in Barranquilla.
Goals from Macnelly Torres, Carlos Valdez, Teofilo Gutierrez, Radamel Falcao and Pablo Armero secured an easy win as Colombia leapfrogged Ecuador into second place in the standings.
Elsewhere, Uruguay’s hopes of a vital victory against bottom side Paraguay were dashed after they conceded a late equaliser in a bruising game which finished 1-1 in Montevideo.
In Friday’s late match, Jefferson Farfan’s 87th-minute goal lifted hosts Peru to a 1-0 victory over Chile in Lima.
The first four finishers in South America’s round-robin tournament will qualify automatically for Brazil, with the fifth-placed side facing a play-off against the fifth-placed side from Asia.
AFP
