Brazil moved clear of the rest in South America with a 2-1 victory over Paraguay in World Cup qualifying Wednesday, needing just three more points to make its taken-for-granted spot at South Africa 2010 official. It was not so easy for arch-rival Argentina, which stumbled to a 2-0 win at Ecuador – again bothered by the altitude in the Andes with more questions sure to be raised about Diego Maradona's coaching. Brazil can get its needed three points on Sept. 5 – its next match – at none other than Argentina. Elsewhere in South America, Colombia defeated Peru 1-0, Chile beat Bolivia 4-0 and Venezuela drew 2-2 with Uruguay. With four games remaining in qualifying, Brazil leads with 27 points, ahead of Chile (26), Paraguay (24), Argentina (22) and Ecuador (20). Uruguay has 18, followed by Colombia (17), Venezuela (16), Bolivia (13) and Peru (7). In CONCACAF qualifying, Mexico struggled to a 2-1 victory over last-place Trinidad and Tobago, a much needed win and the first for new coach Javier Aguirre, who replaced fired Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson in April. In the other game in the North and Central America and Caribbean region, Honduras edged El Salvador in San Pedro Sula 1-0. The top four South American teams advance automatically, as do CONCACAF's top three. One more place goes to the winner of a two-game playoff between the No. 5 South American side and the No. 4 in CONCACAF. Robinho and Nilmar scored in an eight-minute period either side of halftime as Brazil rallied for victory over Paraguay. Brazil had to withstand a worrying start by Paraguay, which opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Salvador Cabanas scored only the sixth goal against the Brazilians in 14 qualifiers. Robinho equalized in the 41st minute and Nilmar made it 2-1 in the 49th. Argentina slumped once again in the Andes mountains. Bolivia trounced Argentina 6-1 in April, playing at La Paz which is 3,650 meters above sea level. Ecuador's goals came from Walter Ayovi in the 72nd minute and Pablo Palacios in the 84th, both coming near the end as Quito's 2,850-meter altitude took its toll. This was the third straight lackluster result for Argentina and calls into question the coaching of Maradona, who took over in November. As well as the loss to Bolivia, Argentina scraped through 1-0 over Colombia on Saturday. In CONCACAF, Oscar Rojas scored in the 51st minute to give Mexico a badly needed 2-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago. Mexico's next game is Aug. 12 against the United States at Aztec Stadium, where the Americans have never beaten Mexico. The US defeated Mexico 2-0 in February at Columbus, Ohio. Guillermo Franco opened the scoring for Mexico in the first minute at Aztec Stadium, chipping a shot over Trinidad goalkeeper Clayton Ince as he came out in an attempt to claim the ball. Hayden Tinto equalized for Trinidad in first-half injury time, driving a shot from 16 yards over the head of Mexico keeper Oscar Perez, who was caught flat-footed by Tinto as he crossed the 18-yard line. Mexico dominated the first half and should have scored two or three more goals, but found the winner when Franco laid the ball back to Rojas, who launched a long-range drive into the top corner.
