A ‘double’ of Alexis Sanchez helped chili to beat bolivia 3-2 on Tuesday to keep their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup alive. With two games remaining for both sides, Chile advanced to fifth place in the 10-team South American group, with 19 points.
The top four teams in the section automatically qualify for Qatar with the fifth placed team facing a play-off with a team from the Asian confederation. Brazil and Argentina have already qualified and third-placed Ecuador will almost certainly join them.
Alexis, Inter Milan striker, today entered the history of Chilean football by scoring two goals and touching 50 with his team. Criticized harshly after last Thursday’s defeat against Argentina in Calama, the former Barcelona player was the hero of La Roja at the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz, muddy and irregular, which added one more point of difficulty to the already complicated 3,640 meters above sea level.
On a heavy shot in the Bolivian capital, Sánchez put Chile ahead in the 14th minute, but Marc Enoumba equalized eight minutes before halftime for the hosts. Marcelino Núñez restored Chile’s lead in the 77th minute and Sánchez added a third with four minutes remaining. Bolivia’s top scorer, Marcelo Martins, scored two minutes later, but Chile held on.
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