South America

Here it's a pill hard to swallow: Concacaf doesn't have the monopoly on absurdity. Sorry. Other confederations also have a fair share of the industry, and they are not shy when it is time to demonstrate it. 

And yes, we are looking at you, CONMEBOL.

Thursday night there were three games in the South American qualifiers, and all of them brought goals, emotions but also a good amount of WTF moments.

You don't have time; I don't have time, so let's go to the point.

QUITO — Alisson said the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) had prevented his side from being "punished unfairly" after the Brazil goalkeeper had two red cards rescinded in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Ecuador in a World Cup qualifier.

Alisson was shown a red card after 25 minutes for a fierce tackle and another in stoppage time for felling Ayrton Preciado as he attempted to punch the ball, but on both occasions the referee consulted VAR and changed his mind.

"I think this was the first time this has happened in the history of football," the Liverpool keeper said.

Brazil coach Tite has left out Renan Lodi for their World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay because the Atlético Madrid full back has not had a full course of COVID-19 vaccines.

"Renan Lodi was excluded from the possibility of being called up due to his non-vaccination," Tite, who recalled Dani Alves and Philippe Coutinho, told reporters on Thursday. "He missed the chance to compete (for a place)."

James Rodríguez is being praised as a hero in the Qatar Stars League after saving the life of a colleague on Jan. 8. The Colombian was playing for Al-Rayyan when Al-Wakrah defender Ousmane Coulibaly collapsed on the goal-line due to a cardiac arrest, just seconds after he sent the ball to a corner kick. 

James Rodríguez saves rival's life in Qatar

Reports say while everybody was panicking, Rodríguez ran to Coulibaly and performed a life-saving maneuver. The phrase is not an oversell — the doctors who took care of Coulibaly in the stadium applauded his intervention.