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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.
CONMEBOL Qualifiers Highlights
Ecuador vs. Brazil: A festival of flying kicks
An already qualified Brazil tied 1-1 against Ecuador. But what really stood out in this game was the number of flying kicks during the game. It was wild.
Ecuadorian goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez was the first showing off his skills with a hit right into Matheus Cunha's neck.
Red card for the @FEFecuador keeper after this... #CONMEBOL #WCQ #ECUvsBRA pic.twitter.com/VlPnmkU6Bq
— fuboTV (@fuboTV) January 27, 2022
Of course, it was a red card for Domínguez.
Later, Cunha showed on Instagram the consequences of the kick.
Ugh!
Next, it was Emerson Royal's turn. The Brazilian fullback was less spectacular than Domínguez, but his cleats went straight between forward Michael Estrada's legs, causing pain and misery.
¡Otra tarjeta roja! #CONMEBOL #BRAvsECU pic.twitter.com/bx1uxeNrpo
— fuboTV (@fuboTV) January 27, 2022
Emerson was also sent off.
The closing number was Alisson. The Brazilian goalkeeper left his box to clear a ball with his right leg way too high. He touched the ball, but also Enner Valencia's face. The ref did the right thing showing him the red card, but for some weird reason VAR overturned the decision.
This is 100 % red Card for Alisson Becker. He See coming Ennear Valencia. Valencia sprinting to THE Ball. what is that foot doing up there? #ECUBRA #CONMEBOL #Brazil pic.twitter.com/npSMLp7fl5
— GuardiolaWatch (@IboMakelele) January 28, 2022
Weirdly, Alisson received a second red card in the last minutes of the game after punching a rival inside the box. The ref again took the correct decision, sending off the keeper and calling a penalty kick, but VAR disagreed.
Paraguay vs. Uruguay
To be honest, there was no funny business in this game. Uruguay suddenly remembered how to play soccer after they got rid of Óscar Tabarez and beat Paraguay in Asunción.
La Celeste — now managed by Diego Alonso — scored through Luis Suárez, a man who cannot find the net in Atlético de Madrid.
Next.
Chile vs. Argentina
Without Lionel Messi, who stayed at PSG, and playing at 7,300 feet above sea level, Argentina beat Chile 2-1. La Albiceleste roared with a thunderous curled shot from Ángel di María and a tap-in from Lautaro Martínez. La Roja tried to fight back through one of the two biggest local heartthrobs these days, the English-born Ben Brereton (actor Pedro Pascal is the other one, if you were asking), but his goal wasn't enough.
Chile now is on the verge of missing its second world cup in a row.
The WTF moment? The assistant referees forgot their flags in the hotel and they had to use two reflective safety vests to carry on with their responsibilities.
¡INSÓLITO!
En el partido de este 27/01 entre Chile y Argentina , el banderín del juez de línea fue un chaleco reflectivo . #NadaPersonal #EliminatoriasSudamericanas— Nada Personal (@NadaPersonalDB) January 28, 2022
The action in the CONMEBOL qualifiers continues Friday with Colombia vs. Perú (4 p.m. ET) and Venezuela vs Bolivia (5 p.m. ET). Both games will be on fuboTV and pay-per-view services.
