Late drama for Ecuador, Colombia secures World Cup qualifying draws

A late brace from Enner Valencia brought Ecuador back and salvaged a 2-2 draw vs. Bolivia, while Yerry Mina matched Luis Suarez's late strike to lift Colombia to a 2-2 draw vs. Uruguay in South American World Cup qualifying on Tuesday. 

Ecuador fell behind to a tremendous goal from Pablo Escobar, who laced a left-footed blast from long range in the third minute. He added his second just before halftime, seemingly putting Bolivia on its way. 

But Valencia, playing days after he escaped police by faking an injury and exiting a stadium in an ambulance over a child support payment dispute, scored twice in the second half, netting the equalizer in the 89th minute.

In Colombia, Mina's 84th-minute equalizer came after Suarez appeared to put Uruguay in position to win for a seventh time in 10 matches. The Barcelona star scored from a tight angle to the far post to give Uruguay a 2-1 lead in the 73rd minute. 

Mina's flying header salvaged the point for Los Cafeteros, though, who danced their way to a 17th point and a provisional spot in fourth place.

Abel Aguilar and Cristian Rodriguez exchanged first-half goals for the two sides.

The top four teams following the 18-game round robin automatically advance to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The fifth-place team is entered into an inter-continental playoff against the winner of the Oceania region.

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