Uruguay beats Peru in WC qualifying

By foxsports
Published

Uruguay defeated Peru 4-2 on Sunday to move into second place in South American qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

Sebastian Coates, Maximiliano Pereira, Christian Rodriguez and Sebastian Eguren scored for Uruguay, which now has 11 points, one less than Chile and one more than Argentina in the nine-team group.

Chile defeated Venezuela 2-0 at home Saturday, while Argentina was idle. Peru is last with three points. It played without three key players because of injuries - Juan Vargas, Claudio Pizarro and Jefferson Farfan.

Coates scored with a header in the 15th and Pereira added to the lead in the 30th, but Peru equalized with an own goal by Uruguay defender Diego Godin in the 40th and with Paolo Guerrero in the 48th.

Rodriguez netted in 63rd and Eguren in second-half injury time to give Uruguay the win.

In Quito, Ecuador defeated Colombia 1-0 thanks to a 54th-minute header by striker Cristian Benitez, moving to fourth in the standings with nine points. Colombia has six points and is sixth in the standings.

Ecuador had defender Christian Noboa sent off in the 86th.

Argentina and Uruguay have a game in hand on leader Chile. The top four teams will automatically secure a World Cup spot, while the fifth-place nation advances to an intercontinental playoff.