By DPA
Buenos Aires : Argentina beat Bolivia by a comfortable 3-0 here Saturday to remain top of the table in the South American qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with Paraguay two points behind after thrashing Ecuador 5-1.
At the Monumental stadium in the Argentine capital, Sergio Aguero opened the score with a header five minutes before half-time, and Juan Roman Riquelme made it 2-0 with a free kick in the 56th minute.
Playmaker Riquelme — sidelined for months at Villarreal but with very good performances with the national team — completed the scoring in the 73rd minute with a delicate right-foot shot to the far post.
Argentine coach Alfio Basile admitted that the game was “tedious, boring and monotonous”, but he blamed that partly on the hot weather and the bad state of the pitch and noted that he was happy with the result.
Bolivian coach Erwin Sanchez admitted that the individual quality of Argentine players trashed his strategy.
Lionel Messi played well, but Riquelme made most of the difference despite having suffered from flu this week.
“Having a player like Riquelme fills me with pride,” said Basile.
“They told me he could not play in the national team because he is not playing at his club, and I say Riquelme is an exception,” the coach said of his controversial pick. “I was not wrong.”
Riquelme himself said he was happy about the result, but stressed that “the whole team played well and got an important triumph.
“We had to win and we did it, besides playing well at times,” the midfielder said.
Argentina remain the only team to have won all their games in the qualifiers, while Bolivia is yet to score its first goal on the way to South Africa.
Paraguay made the most of a poor rival defence to thrash Ecuador 5-1 in Asuncion. The home side pulled ahead early in the game, with a goal from Nelson Haedo Valdez in the ninth minute, and Christian Riveros made things 2-0 in the 26th minute.
Five minutes into the second half Roque Santa Cruz added a third. The game appeared to be all Paraguay’s, but Ivan Kaviedes put the score 3-1 to sketch a recovery in the 80th minute. The hosts introduced substitutes to preserve key players Haedo Valdez, Santa Cruz and Claudio Morel Rodriguez ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Chile. However, they did not allow the rival any delusions and scored a fourth goal two minutes later, through Nestor Ayala.
Riveros added the second in his personal count soon afterwards, to leave the count 5-1.
Ecuador — who has played the last two editions of the World Cup — remains the only team to have lost all three games in the South American qualifying round, with 11 goals against and only one in favour.
Also Saturday, Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 in Bogota, with a goal from Ruben Dario Bustos in the 82nd minute from a free kick shot. Colombia suffered but are now back in the race, after drawing with Brazil and Bolivia.
Brazil — with a win and a draw — were set to play Peru Sunday in Lima, with Uruguay-Chile on the same day.
The qualifiers are set to continue next week, with the fourth round of games. Venezuela-Bolivia and Colombia-Argentina are scheduled for Tuesday, with Brazil-Uruguay, Ecuador-Peru and Chile-Paraguay on Wednesday.
In the South American World Cup qualifiers, each of the 10 teams involved play all the others at home and away. The top four finishers win a place in the World Cup, with the fifth-place team facing a representative of the North, Central American and Caribbean region in a playoff.
Paraguay are now on seven points, to Argentina’s perfect record on nine Brazil remain on four points, from a draw in Colombia and a home win against Ecuador.