Brazil loses to Paraguay, 2-0
Paraguay survived being down a man and beat Brazil, 2-0, Sunday at Asuncion, Paraguay, in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, propelling the small South American country to the top of the standings.
There are days when things don’t work,” said Brazil Coach Dunga, whose team also suffered a 2-0 defeat to Venezuela in a friendly earlier in the month. “Paraguay made the most of their qualities . . . we knew it would be a physical match.”
The Paraguayans stuck to their strategy of ceaselessly attacking the Brazilians’ goal. That strategy bore fruit in the 25th minute when Roque Santa Cruz scored off a corner kick lobbed into the area by Edgar Barreto. Salvador Cabanas scored in the 48th minute when Santa Cruz was stopped after a sprint from midfield and Cabanas capitalized on the rebound.
That goal came a minute after Dario Veron was ejected with two yellow cards.
With 11 goals scored and only one against, Paraguay leads the standings with 13 points, followed by Argentina and Colombia with nine. Brazil has eight. Brazil was without injured star Kaka.
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Canada 3, St. Vincent and the Grenadines 0 -- It was an easy win for Canada in a CONCACAF qualifier for the 2010 World Cup at Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Canada took the lead in the 28th minute when Issey Nakajima-Farran scored after St. Vincent failed to clear the ball from the penalty area. Ali Gerba, who replaced an injured Robert Friend after seven minutes, made it 2-0 in the 38th. Shortly before time, Gerba netted again when a cross found him alone in front of St. Vincent’s goal with defenders and the goalkeeper out of position.
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Bermuda 2, Trinidad and Tobago 1 -- Bermuda upset Trinidad and Tobago at Macoya, Trinidad, a shocking result against a team that played in the 2006 World Cup.
John Barry Nusum scored in the eighth and 39th minutes for Bermuda. Stern John scored in the 23rd minute for Trinidad and Tobago.
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Argentina 1, Ecuador 1 -- Argentina was spared from consecutive defeats thanks to a last-minute goal by Rodrigo Palacio in South American World Cup qualifying at Buenos Aires.
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Chile 2, Bolivia 0 -- Gary Medel scored in each half at La Paz for Chile’s second win. Medel knocked in a rebound in the 28th minute, and made sure of victory with a second goal in the 76th.
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In other World Cup qualifying matches: Jamaica routed Bahamas, 7-0 at Kingston, Jamaica. . . . Haiti and the Netherlands Antilles played to a 0-0 draw at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. . . . Panama defeated El Salvador, 1-0, at Panama City.
