Argentina make it five in a row

The win took Colombia above Brazil, who lost 2-1 away to Paraguay on Tuesday and dropped to fifth place, on goal difference.

Argentina8217;s strength in depth was demonstrated by their replacing Batistuta with Hernan Crespo, the world8217;s most expensive player.

Crespo duly scored Argentina8217;s first goal after 23 minutes of sustained pressure and fellow striker Claudio Lopez added the second following a defensive error early in the second half.

The win, on a freezing night in Buenos Aires, gave Argentina a maximum 15 points from five games and a perfect warm-up for next week8217;s clash away to Brazil, for whom another defeat could spell the sack for coach Wanderley Luxemburgo.

8220;Argentina get better every day,8221; said admiring Ecuador coach Hernan Dario gomez. 8220;Any team that plays against them runs the risk of being embarrassed. We kept them to two goals and stuck with our game so I8217;m not sad.8221;

The match was stained by yet another dubious penalty when referee Daniel Bello gave Argentina a second-minute spot-kick for what replays showed was clearly a dive by Ariel Ortega, a player with a reputation for theatricals.

Although Juan Sebastian Veron made sure that justice was done by firing wide, the incident raised more questions against the standard of refereeing in the tournament.

Venezuela, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and Argentina, again, have already been awarded highly dubious penalties in the competition.

COLOMBIA DOWN PERU: Colombia8217;s win in Lima came with their only serious chance of the match, clinically taken by Argentine-based striker Juan Pablo Angel three minutes after half-time.

Peru, coached by former Colombia boss Francisco Maturana, attacked for almost the whole 90 minutes, hit the crossbar twice, forced more than one dozen corners and were repeatedly thwarted by heroic Colombia goal-keeper Oscar Cordoba.

BOLIVIA UPSET CHILE: Chile goalkeeper Nelson Tapia appeared to have earned his team a draw at the la paz Hernando Siles station, located 3,600 metres above sea level, making a string of good saves, until Roger Suarez scored seven minutes from time to give Bolivia their first win.

Chile8217;s veteran striker Ivan Zamorano missed three good second-half chances.

The top four teams qualify directly for South Korea and Japan, while the fifth play off against the winners of the Oceania zone.

Argentina already look sure to qualify, while the fight for the remaining places seems to be between Uruguay 10 points, who beat Venezuela 3-1 on Tuesday, Paraguay 9, Colombia 8, Brazil 8 and Ecuador 6.

Peru, Chile and Bolivia all with 4 points need a quick reversal of fortunes to pull themselves back into the race while Venezuela are regarded as no-hopers despite a recent improvement in form.