CHILE BOOST W/CUP HOPES WITH WINS
Chile have boosted their hopes of securing a place at next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament on Qatari soil with back-to-back wins in the South American qualifiers.
The Chileans had performed woefully in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers until the latest set of qualifying games played this month as teams battle for a spot at the tournament scheduled to take place in the final two months of next year.
The October international break didn’t start well for Chile after they were beaten by Peru. Christian Cueva gave the Peruvians the lead in front of their home fans on 36 minutes and the 2-0 victory over Chile was wrapped up thanks to the second half strike from Sergio Pena. Pena doubled the lead for Peru in the 64th minute. At the end of matchday ten game in Lima, the Chileans made it seven qualifying games since they defeated the same opposition 2-0 at home on matchday three.
Things changed for the better for Chile thanks to the victory from their rescheduled matchday five qualifier against Paraguay. The Chileans scored twice in three games to secure a 2-0 home win over Paraguay. Ben Bereton and Mauricio Isla were on target for Chile during the game as they ended a run of seven qualifiers without a win.
Chile made it back-to-back wins with the home win over Venezuela. The Chileans had not won two games in a row during the South American qualifiers for Qatar 2022 until they achieved the feat against the Venezuelans. Blackburn Rovers hitman Ben Bereton is in the form of his life and he made it two goals in two matches with one of the goals in the 3-0 home win over Venezuela. Erick Pulgar scored twice in the first half before the third Chile goal from Bereton wrapped up the points.
With the two straight wins, Chile are up to sixth place on the South American standings. The two-time Copa America champions are just three points off Uruguay in the fifth and final World Cupspot with six games left for the two countries.