RIO DE JANEIRO, 7 September 2004 — Uruguay put their World Cup qualifying campaign back on course with a controversial 1-0 win over Ecuador on Sunday while Chile and Colombia shared four red cards and no goals in a grim encounter.

Brazil eased past Bolivia 3-1, a first-minute Ronaldo goal thwarting the visitor’s plans to frustrate the world champions with a packed defense, while Paraguay defender Carlos Gamarra added to his Olympic silver medal by scoring the winner against Venezuela.

Brazil lead the ten-nation South American group with 16 points from eight games as the marathon tournament nears it’s halfway stage. Argentina, 3-1 winners over Peru on Saturday, follow with 15 and Paraguay on 14.

Chile are next with 12 and only four points separates them from ninth-placed Colombia (8), with Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay (all 10) and Peru (9) sandwiched in between. Bolivia (6) prop up the table.

The top four qualify directly for Germany and the fifth plays off against the Oceania region winners — either Australia or the Soloman Islands — for another place.

Uruguay, beaten in their last three qualifiers, bounced back in Montevideo to win with a 58th minute Carlos Bueno header which was palmed away by goalkeeper Edwin Villafuerte only for the referee to rule the ball had crossed the line.

Chile and Colombia were involved in arguably the worst of the more than 40 qualifiers played worldwide this weekend as their Santiago stalemate produced more red cards than scoring chances.

Colombia midfielder John Viafara was given a straight red for clattering into Claudio Maldonado after the ball had gone in the 17th minute, while the Chilean was also dismissed though it was not clear why. Chile fullback Rodrigo Perez and Colombia substitute Jairo Patino followed for a second-half off-the-ball clash while constant bickering and playacting by both sides also marred the game. The teams were jeered off by the 63,000 crowd.

Brazil’s match in Sao Paulo was a happier affair especially after Ronaldo’s lightning strike, his seventh goal of the qualifiers. Ronaldinho made it 2-0 from a penalty in the 13th minute and Adriano headed the third just before halftime.

Bolivia goalkeeper Leo Fernandez bravely kept Brazil at bay in the second half with some outstanding saves while Luis Cristaldo, a survivor from his country’s last World Cup appearance in 1994, pulled one back.

“I’ve no doubt that the goal in the first minute changed the face of the game,” Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said. “If we’d taken a long time to score, the crowd could have become irritated and the game could have got complicated.”

Brazil, who visit Germany for a friendly tomorrow, headed straight for the airport — minus Ronaldo, who was given permission to stay behind for his engagement dinner.

Paraguay kept up their challenge for a third successive World Cup appearance by beating Venezuela, whose attempt to qualify for the first time is rapidly losing momentum.

Venezuela have taken one point from their last three games and failed to score.

Gamarra, 33, outfoxed the Venezuela defense as he rose unmarked to head the 53rd minute winner. The Paraguay captain, who played in Athens as an over-age player, helped the under-23 side finish runners-up to Argentina and claim their country’s first-ever Olympic medal in any sport.

Meanwhile, for France, England and Greece Wednesday night’s European World Cup qualifiers will provide an opportunity to redeem themselves less than a week after disappointing in their opening matches of the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.

England, who on Saturday gave away a two-goal lead against Austria in a Group 6 match to draw 2-2, travel to Poland. The home side won their opening match in Northern Ireland 3-0 and another victory for them would see them open a five-point cushion at the top from England.

England captain David Beckham was forced to leave training early yesterday after failing to shake off a rib injury just two days before he is due to face Poland.

A Football Association spokesman said neither Beckham nor Steven Gerrard had completed the session next to the Ernst Happel Stadion. “Steven was precautionary, there’s no injury. David took a bang on the ribs during the game against Austria on Saturday and it felt sore today,” the spokesman said. Beckham later went for a scan on the injury.

In other matches in the group, Austria are at home to Azerbaijan, while Wales and Northern Ireland clash in Cardiff.

The pick of the matches tomorrow is in Group 1 in Amsterdam between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The Dutch did not look particularly impressive in a friendly against Liechtenstein on the weekend and will be desperate to open their campaign on a winning note.

Romania, who are topping the group on six points are hoping to make it three wins out of three in Andorra, while Armenia and Finland clash in Yerevan.

France, who were held to a disappointing goalless draw in Group 4 against Israel, are away to the Faroe Islands and are expected to pick up their first maximum points. Switzerland and Ireland, who both won on Saturday, clash in Basel. The last time the two met was in the qualifiers for the Euro finals and then the Irish needed a win to make it into the playoffs. The Swiss won and went on to play in Portugal and Ireland will be out for revenge. The other game in the group sees Israel take on Cyprus in Tel Aviv.

For surprise Euro champions Greece the World Cup campaign got off to a disastrous start as they lost 2-1 in Albania. The Greeks are at home against Turkey in Group 2. The Turks were disappointing in their 1-1 draw at home against Georgia and the third-placed finisher from the last World Cup are with their backs against the wall ahead of their second game already. For the loser of this game, the dream of Germany 2006 could be over before it even started.

Kazakhstan are at home to the Ukraine, while Albania, who lead the group, travel to Tbilisi for their clash against Georgia.

Estonia, who with Romania are the only team in the competition with six points, have a tough away trip to Portugal on their hands in Group 3. The Portuguese looked impressive in their 2-0 win in Latvia and are hoping a successful qualifying campaign will take away some of the hurt left after losing the Euro final against Greece. Slovakia are at home to Liechtenstein, while Luxembourg take on Latvia in other Group 3 matches.

In Group 5, Italy face an uncomfortable away trip to Moldova. Although the Azzurri managed to come from behind to beat Norway on the weekend, they will not underestimate the Moldovans. Norway are at home to Belarus, while Scotland face Slovenia in Glasgow. There are only two games in Group 7, where Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina start their campaign with a game against each other in Zenica.