BUENOS AIRES: Argentina beat neighbors Uruguay 2-1 in a bruising World Cup qualifier on Saturday to end a run of six successive draws while South American group leaders Paraguay won again, 1-0 away to Colombia.
Bolivia beat Peru 3-0 in the other match and coach Erwin Sanchez said he hoped that their win could help contribute to unity in the politically-divided nation.
As the marathon 18-match campaign reached the halfway mark, Paraguay's win in Bogota kept them top with 20 points, four ahead of Argentina.
Brazil, who visit Venezuela on Sunday, and Chile, who travel to Ecuador, are a further three points behind. Uruguay's defeat kept them fifth with 12 points and Colombia stayed sixth with 10.
The top four teams qualify directly for South Africa and the fifth play off against a team from the CONCACAF region.
Argentina coach Alfio Basile, who likes his team to play with verve and style, admitted that all he wanted on Saturday was a win, whether it was pretty or not.
"A result was fundamental today and we got it," he said.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi headed in after six minutes from a cross provided by Juan Roman Riquelme, whose place had been under threat after a run of lackluster displays.
Sergio Aguero added another seven minutes later and Martin Demichelis had another goal disallowed for offside before the half hour in Buenos Aires.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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