Argentina coast, escape for unimpressive Brazil

The goal drew jeers from the stands until Rivaldo evened the score seven minutes later. Brazil took the lead just before halftime when Antonio Carlos kicked in a header from Cesar Sampaio.

Rivaldo seemingly provided Brazil some breathing room early in the second half, poking in a rebound shot in the 51st minute after Ecuadorean goalkeeper Francisco Cevallo mishandled a header by Amoroso.

But Ecuador proved persistent. Ulises de la Cruz snapped the Brazilians to attention with a late second half goal. Brazil held on for the win, but their fans loudly voiced their displeasure.

In the post-game comments, Brazilian coach Wanderley Luxemburgo downplayed the fan reaction: 8220;The fans jeered at the end because they thought the score was too tight, but it ended up driving the team.8221;

Meanwhile, Argentina had little trouble downing lowly Venezuela, beating up on the region8217;s perennial weakling in a 4-0 rout. Ariel Ortega scored two goals, and Roberto Ayala and Hernan Crespo each added one apiece to give the Argentines their second win in as many games.

The goal productivity was particularly surprising, given the absence of Fiorentina striker Gabriel Batistuta, who sat out the match nursing injuries.

Argentina is alone atop the standings with the maximum points, trailed by Peru and Brazil each with four points. The Venezuelans, meanwhile, are still in search of points and their first goal of the tournament.

In a highly-charged match in Santiago, Peru8217;s Juan Jayo surprised Chile with a blistering shot from outside the box to open the scoring in the 32nd minute. The Chileans responded three minutes later, with Javier Margas finishing off a David Pizarro free-kick.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie, a disappointing finish for Chile, which opened the qualifying series with a 4-1 loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires last month.

Paraguay got a much-needed win at home when Celso Ayala scored a first-half goal to give his team a 1-0 win over Uruguay and first victory in the qualifying round. Ayala drove in a far post header in the 35th minute as Paraguay overcame an uninspired performance to beat an energetic Uruguayan team.

High in the Andes mountains of La Paz, Bolivia and Colombia played the day8217;s most interesting game 8212; although the 1-1 draw hardly reflected it.

Bolivia8217;s Erwin Sanchez scored in the 16th minute on a free-kick, while Colombia8217;s Jairo Castillo scored the equaliser 16 minutes later, after exploiting a Bolivian defensive mistake.