Lionel Messi escapes serious injury

Lionel Messi escaped a severe injury of the South American World Cup qualifier. The Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain star was the victim of a death kick from Venezuela defender Adrián Martinez last night, shown red after an intervention by the VAR. Messi, however, escaped unharmed. Argentina won 3-1. Argentina had a leisurely evening in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Lautaro Martínez opened the score just before half-time. The South American champion quickly took a 3-0 lead in the second half via Joaquin Correa and Angel Correa. In injury time, Soteldo saved the honour for Venezuela from a penalty kick.

Red card Martinez

Due to the red card from Martinez, Venezuela played with ten men for an hour. He was sent off the field after almost half an hour after a heavy charge on Messi. Uruguayan referee González allowed play to continue but gave Martinez a yellow card when the attack was interrupted. He was then called to the side by the VAR and, after studying the images, converted the penalty into a red card. Messi was able to continue the game and also played the game ‘just’.

Brazil also won the seventh game in the South American World Cup qualifying series. The Divine Canaries defeated Chile in a tough match 1-0. Brazil and Argentina meet in São Paulo on Sunday.

Substitute Everton Ribeiro scored the winning goal just over fifteen minutes after the break. Defender Danilo dribbled his way through the Chilean defence on the right and laid back. Ribeiro put Neymar alone in front of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with a quick reflex, who saved the effort of the Paris Saint-Germain attacker with a quick reflex. The ball bounced back at Ribeiro’s feet, who shot in dry: 1-0.

Brazil in the lead

Brazil leads the South American group after seven games with the full win. Argentina is second with 15 points. Ecuador, which beat Paraguay 2-0 on Thursday-evening, is third with 12 points. Uruguay, which drew 1-1 with Peru, is fourth with 9 points, followed by Colombia. That drew in Bolivia (1-1) and has the same number of points but a worse goal difference. The top four qualify for next year’s World Cup in Qatar. The number five still plays an international play-off.