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Brazil, Argentina set for World Cup qualifiers

Other News Materials 5 September 2008 06:03 (UTC +04:00)

Argentina and Brazil are set to play in the South American World Cup qualifiers this weekend and next week, but fans are unlikely to have similar reactions to the two teams, reported dpa.

Argentina - with a junior team built around senior stars like Lionel Messi - has just won its second consecutive Olympic gold medal. Brazil failed to get its first ever Olympic football gold and had to settle for bronze after a lacklustre performance.

But even beyond Beijing 2008, Argentina is second in the qualifiers, with 11 points in six games, while Brazil trails in fifth place with nine points.

If the qualifiers were to end today, Brazil - the winner of five editions of the World Cup - would need to win a playoff against a team from North, Central America and the Caribbean in order to secure a place in South Africa 2010.

It's no surprise then that Brazilian coach Carlos Dunga is under heavy fire, and the upcoming matches - against Chile in Santiago on Sunday and against Bolivia in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday - are likely to be vital.

In an effort to cool down the highly-charged atmosphere, Dunga stressed that the qualifiers "do not end today."

"There is no desperation. What there is, is a great will to show our ability even more, and the will to win that everyone must have when they wear the Brazil jersey," Dunga told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The coach praised rival Chile: "It is not by chance that they are fourth (in the qualifiers)."

His men too were preparing themselves for a difficult match, and they were seeking an early goal to take the pressure off themselves.

"Our rival would have to open itself up and that would give us space to play with greater speed," Ronaldinho explained. "Brazil has players that are deadly in counter-attack, and starting out with an advantage would be vital."

Ronaldinho himself recently accused Brazilians of finding second place to be as bad as last place. The entire team is aware of the fact that their fans are not pleased with their performance and play so far in the qualifiers, or even in the Olympics.

In their last home game in Belo Horizonte in June, Brazilian fans booed their own team and called Dunga a "donkey." So the home game Wednesday against lowly Bolivia will not necessarily be a pleasant experience.

Argentina, on the other hand, is almost on top of the world - at least for now. It is second in the qualifiers, with the chance to climb to the top of the table when it hosts leader Paraguay - which is on 13 points from six games - Saturday.

Olympic team star Angel Di Maria may well be a starter in that game, alongside the likes of Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.

Also Saturday, third-placed Colombia is set to host Uruguay, Ecuador will play Bolivia and Venezuela will visit the troubled Peru - last in the qualifiers with just three points.

Next week, Paraguay will host Venezuela on Tuesday, while Wednesday is set to feature the following games: Uruguay-Ecuador, Chile-Colombia, Brazil-Bolivia and Peru-Argentina.

In South America's 10-team World Cup qualifiers, each side plays at home and away with each of the other nine. 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.

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