They still sit in last place in South America, but Bolivia pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Wednesday's busy slate of World Cup qualifiers by playing Brazil to a scoreless draw in Rio de Janeiro.
D.C. United striker Jaime Moreno, Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer, started for Bolivia and played 56 minutes before being replaced by Luis Gutierrez. The visitors, who were cheered by the frustrated home fans in the second half, were reduced to 10 men when Ignacio Garcia was sent off in the 53rd minute.
The draw was Bolivia's fifth point in eight matches, while mighty Brazil sits in a three-way with Argentina and Chile behind surprising leader Paraguay in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying table.
Venezuela, the only South American nation to never play in a World Cup, is just two points in front of Bolivia after suffering a 2-0 loss at Paraguay Tuesday. Cristian Riveros and Nelson Haedo Valdez struck for Paraguay, which has secured maximum points from four home matches and has a four-point lead atop the division.
Columbus Crew forward Alejandro Moreno started and played the entire 90 minutes, while Red Bulls attacking midfielder Jorge Rojas was an unused substitute for Venezuela, which failed to register a single shot to test Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar and lost its third consecutive match.
In Europe, Wales battled valiantly but lost 2-1 to Russia in Moscow Wednesday. Toronto FC's Carl Robinson was in John Toshack's starting XI, but was replaced by Samuel Ricketts for the start of the second half.
Wales missed a golden chance to jump in front when Gareth Bale couldn't convert a penalty kick in the 17th minute. Roman Pavlyuchenko wouldn't miss, though, scoring from the spot in the 22nd minute after Robinson took down Konstantin Zyryanov in the box.
Bale would atone for his failed penalty attempt by splitting a pair of defenders, setting up Joe Ledley's left-footed equalizer midway through the second half. But Pavel Pogrebnyak fired home the winner, beating Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey on a rebound.
England moved into a tie with Ukraine atop Group 6 following a stunning 4-1 win against Croatia in Zagreb Wednesday. Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was the hero, striking for a hat trick and Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney added the other goal for the Three Lions.
Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, who also came on as a late substitute in a 2-0 win at Andorra Saturday, replaced Walcott in the 84th minute.
"Becks told me to be a bit more greedy in the box, then afterwards he said I was probably too greedy," Walcott told reporters after the match. "He has been absolutely brilliant to me and he just gave me so much confidence. He's given me praise and it's unbelievable coming from David."
New Zealand had already clinched the Oceania section, which puts them into a playoff with the fifth-place Asian team for a berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. But the Kiwis still went out and put on a show for the home fans, beating New Caledonia 3-0 Tuesday.
For the second time in four days against New Caledonia, Shane Smeltz struck twice and Jeremy Christie headed home an insurance goal in the 69th minute to the delight of the crowd at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Toronto FC striker Jarrod Smith started and played the entire 90 minutes, Columbus Crew midfielder Duncan Oughton was also in the starting XI before coming off in the 65th minute and New York Red Bulls defender Andrew Boyens came on for former D.C. United defender Ryan Nelsen in the 63rd minute as New Zealand now has 15 points from five games.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
