Internet Desk: Lionel Messi led Argentina football team is in big trouble as their hopes of qualifying for the FIFA 2018 World Cup suffered a huge blow after they played out yet another draw against Peru on a nail-biting South American qualifying match.
Argentina played out a 0-0 draw with Peru in Buenos Aires, which left the two-time World Cup winners outside the scenario of automatic qualification with only one match left in the group games which will be played on Tuesday.
It was another poor show by Messi & Co. who missed a lot of scoring chances against Peru.
Argentine star forward Lionel Messi hit the post during the second half of the game but his team mates also missed a lot of easy chances which were created by him.
The result left Argentina in sixth place in the standings. The first four teams qualify automatically, with the fifth-placed team advancing to a playoff against New Zealand in November.
But with only two points separating third-placed Chile and seventh-placed Paraguay, the final standings could change dramatically depending on results on Tuesday.
The margin for error for Argentina, however, has narrowed after their latest setback, their third consecutive draw of a faltering qualification campaign.
Argentina’s final qualifier is a challenging away trip to Ecuador in the thin air of Quito. Argentina have a poor record in the Ecuadoran capital, losing two out of three of their last World Cup qualifiers there and drawing the other. The Argentines’ last World Cup qualifying win in Quito came in 2001.
However a victory on Tuesday would guarantee Argentina at least fifth place in the standings, with Peru and Colombia guaranteed to drop points against each other in their final game.
Brazil, who have already qualified in first place, were held to a 0-0 draw by eliminated Bolivia in La Paz earlier Thursday.
That left the focus on the teams jostling behind the five time champions for the three remaining automatic spots.