Messi Keeps Argentina’s World Cup Hope Alive

Argentina thrashed visiting Colombia 3-0 in World Cup qualifier, to move them upward to the fifth position of the table giving them hope of at least being in the play-off stage before next match. La Albiceleste fans heaved a sigh of relief when Lionel Messi opened scoring for their side through a sensational free-kick that ignited joy in the stadium after several matches, before the Barcelona forward went ahead to set up Lucas Pratto with a cross who doubled their lead through a header. The situation would have been worse if Argentina failed to win, they would have remained on the 6th position and Colombia would have been ahead of them, if the result had either gone their way or ended a draw. The win takes care of the outcome of the result between Bolivia and Paraguay, as a win for Paraguay and lose for Argentina would have put Paraguay ahead on the table. But Bolivia did Argentina a lot of good, winning their second match since the begin of the campaign. Argentina would have gotten a direct move to the automatic four slots in the campaign following the win, no thanks to Uruguay who lost to Chile by 3-1, giving the Chileans an edge ahead of the Argentine, a draw or lose for Chile would have given the Argentine a move to the top four slots.