Argentina threw away a two-goal lead in a disappointing 2-2 home draw against Chile as the South American qualifying competition for the 2006 World Cup kicked off on Saturday.In the day’s two other games, Peru came from behind to hammer Paraguay 4-1 and Ecuador started with a 2-0 home win over Venezuela as the marathon battle for four automatic berths began nearly three years before the final is due to be played.Argentina, in particularly coach Marcelo Bielsa and midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, have yet to win back the confidence of the public after the team’s spectacular failure in Japan and South Korea, where they arrived as favourites only to crash out in the first round.Veron was booed every time he touched the ball by the crowd in Buenos Aires, although the new Chelsea signing had a good match in midfield and was gradually winning the supporters over before he was surprisingly substituted for Matias Almeyda midway through the second half.Chile, missing Italian-based midfielder David Pizarro and striker Marcelo Salas through injury, appeared tailor-made for the occasion.Argentina had won their last five matches against their neighbours from across the Andes and have not lost to them for 30 years.Cristian “Kily” Gonzalez and Pablo Aimar scored twice in four minutes to give Argentina a 2-0 first-half lead but Chile stunned the River Plate stadium when Milovan Mirosevic and Reinaldo Navia scored in the second half.A bad-tempered ending saw Argentina’s Walter Samuel and Chile’s Cristian Alvarez sent off for fighting while Navia was also dismissed for a tackle from behind.“We lost two points against inferior opponents,” the beleaguered Bielsa said.“It’s difficult to explain how such a win-able match was not, in the end, won,” added the introverted, eccentric coach who hails from a famous family of lawyers.Chile coach Juvenal Olmos said: “I was satisfied with the attitude of my players and their ability to turn around an adverse scoreline in a stadium which has generally been unfavourable for Chilean football.”.Chile’s next game is on Tuesday at home to Peru, who got off to the perfect start against Paraguay.Paraguay, who reached the last 16 at the last two World Cups, went ahead when Carlos Gamarra headed in Francisco Arce’s outswinging corner as two of the team’s stalwarts combined.But the rest of the match suggested that Paraguay were a team who are past the prime. (Reuters)
