Brazil beat Paraguay 2-0 in World Cup Qualifier

Brazil moved further ahead in South American World Cup qualifying on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Paraguay, its sixth in six matches on the road to Qatar.

The Brazilians are now six points clear of second place Argentina, which drew 2-2 at Colombia after squandering a two-goal advantage.

Neymar and Lucas Paquetá scored Brazil’s goals, marking the team’s first win at Paraguay in World Cup qualifiers in 35 years.

Earlier, Miguel Borja scored an equalizer for Colombia in the last seconds of added time against Argentina in one of the best matches yet in South American qualifying.

Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina was the best player on the pitch, stopping Lionel Messi and his teammates on multiple occasions.

The game at the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla was attended by 10,000 fans despite the region’s alarming COVID-19 figures.

The top four teams in South American qualifiers will advance automatically to Qatar 2022. The fifth-place team will go into an inter-continental playoff. The current standings show Brazil leading the 10-team competition with 18 points, followed by Argentina (12), Ecuador (9) Uruguay and Colombia (8).

The atmosphere in the Brazil camp has been heavy ever since last Friday’s win over Ecuador. Players did not speak publicly amid a possible revolt against Copa America in their home nation. And coach Tite didn’t answer questions as to whether he would remain in the job despite tensions with the management of the Brazilian soccer confederation.

On Sunday, the president of the confederation, Rogério Caboclo, was suspended from office after an accusation of sexual harassment emerged.

But none of that affected with the team’s mentality for the match against Paraguay.

Neymar opened the scoring in the 4th minute after a cross from Gabriel Jesus. And Lucas Paquetá closed the deal in added time with a classy touch that hit the right post before finding the back of the net.

“We know how difficult it is to win here — it hasn’t happened to Brazil since 1985,” defender Marquinhos said. “We are glad we have this advantage on the table. It was a match of details. And scoring early on gave us the tranquility we needed. It forced Paraguay to come at us.”

Paraguay is now in sixth position with seven points.