Group 2

Group 2.
Ecuador – Uruguay 1-0.
19 000 attended the opening match in the group and witness a great surprise. Hardly anybody believed Ecuador captain Hamilton Cuvi, who confidently stated that his team will win before the match. True, Uruguay was missing suspended Francescoli and Perdomo, but Uruguay was reigning champion of South America and Ecuador was lowly. Yet, Ecuador was not afraid and opposed Uruguay with tough physical European-style play and 2 minutes before the end scored from a counter-attack. The counter-attack was launched by Cuvi and finished by Benitez. Of course, the Ecuadorians were jubilant. Dusan Draskovic stated “No one expected us to play in a European style….My orientation was to compensate for the lack of skill with rigid marking.” Now Cuvi’s words before the game made sense – Draskovic introduced European approach to his team and much progress was made. Tabarez, on the other hand, was unconcerned by the loss as his objective was the 1990 World Cup quilifiers. He also blamed the heat for the loss, for his team prepared for two months in rather cold temperatures.
Argentina – Chile 1-0.
40 000 attended the match, which followed Ecuador-Uruguay on the same stadium. Keep in mind the number of attendees. Before the game Orlando Aravena coyly answered the question how his team will play with the words “Red, blue, and white’ – the colours of the Chilean flag. Aravena also annoyed the press by barring all foreign journalists from training sessions – only Chileans were permitted. Both teams were missing a player – Real Betis had an official match and released Nery Pumpido (Argentina) and Patricio Yanez (Chile) only after that, so they did not arrive in Brazil yet. Chile played defensive game – so defensive, that critics said they made Argentina looking adventurous. The match was dull, Maradona appeared lethargic and although Caniggia managed to score and eventually Argentina won, the world champions and their coach were seemingly not in the mood to play seriously.
Uruguay – Bolivia 3-0.
Uruguay was still without suspended Francescoli and Perdomo, but Bolivia was not much of an opposition. As happens often, Uruguay was motivated after a loss and by the 60th minute they had 3-goal lead – steadily, Ostolaza, Sosa, and Ostolaza again broke Bolivian dreams. The game was typical South American brutal clash – by the 26th minute both teams were reduced to 10 men: Bengoechea was expelled in the 13th minute and Bolivian Roca got red card in the 26th minute.
Argentina – Ecuador 0-0.
After upsetting Uruguay, Ecuador upset Argentina as well. Again Argentina was sleepy and Ecuador neutralized them with their bland but well organized play. Ecuador should have won, but in the 49th minute Izquierdo missed a penalty. And like in the opening group match, both teams finished with 10 men – first Capurro of Ecuador was expelled in the 72nd minute and one minute before the end Alfaro Moreno was sent off. Thus, he played only 15 minutes – he replaced Caniggia in the 74th minute. What exactly was on the mind of Bilardo was a baffling mystery – his team was neither experimental, nor regular, but some strange mix with no real aim. There were some new players, but mostly regulars played no matter how.
Ecuador – Bolivia 0-0.
Sensations ended here – Ecuador managed to neutralize Uruguay and Argentina with well organized play, based on tough marking of opponents. But against Bolivia they had to get the initiative, attack, create opportunities and score goals and Ecuador was incapable of that. Bolivia was equal team, rivals at the bottom of South American hierarchy and a game between equals it ended equally.
Uruguay – Chile 3-0.
Seemingly, Uruguay was getting increasingly stronger. Now Francescoli and Perdomo were finally able to play and their presence increased the quality of the team. Francescoli scored the final goal, but if Uruguay really made the difference near the end of the second half, when they scored 2 goals in 2 minutes, they turned gradually the match in their favour earlier, especially after Chile was reduced to 10 men in the 26th minute when Contreras was red-carded.
Chile – Bolivia 5-0.
Chile destroyed Bolivia, but it was a bit too late… by now the Chileans had little hopes for reaching the final stage. It was strong comeback, but against the weakest team in the group.
Argentina – Uruguay 1-0.
Maradona vs Francescoli, the World Champion vs the South American champion, the oldest and bitterest derby of South America… only 18 000 attended. Let go back to the opening day – the first two games were the highest attended in the group. Attendance did not reach the miserable numbers of group A, but steadily dwindled after the first day – the fans quickly decided there was little to see and enjoy on the pitch and were right.
The old rivals largely fought and played little football. Argentina played almost the whole match with 10 men – Ruggeri was expelled in the 17th minute. Actually, only seconds after the above picture – the ruthless Uruguayan tackles made him lose his temper. There was little football, but Caniggia managed to score and Argentina won. Interestingly, Caniggia was not a starter, substituting Burruchaga in the 54th minute. Bilardo had no reason to be satisfied with his attackers and tried different line against Uruguay – so far, it was Caniggia-Maradona, but now Caniggia was dropped and Calderon was moved ahead from midfield to pair with Maradona. Argentina was still unimpressive, but it was hard to judge by the derby – Argentina and Uruguay most often produced harsh battles with little exciting moments.
The result practically qualified Argentina and also benefited Chile – now they had a chance to chance to reach the final stage at the expense of Uruguay, which had no more games.
Chile – Ecuador 2-1.
Chile needed a big win to go ahead – win they did, but without the needed result. Ecuador had 4 points before the game and needed a tie to finish 2nd in the group. With both teams aiming at qualification much was at stake and… at the end both teams lost. Chile prevailed, but their win was sufficient only to finish ahead of Ecuador.
Argentina – Bolivia 0-0.
The last group game was without any importance – and because of that, dull. Bilardo tried a new attacking line – his third so far: Maradona was moved back to midfield and Caniggia was paired with Alfaro Moreno. Was it a meaningful experiment, or just giving a bit of playing time to substitutes is hard to say – Argentina was bland as before, now only having to go through the motions until the final stage begins. Caniggia did not finish the game, substituted with Troglio in the 54th minute. Regulars, reserves, old stars, newcomers… Argentina only waited for the final whistle. Bolivia was quite satisfied with that – getting a point from the champions of the world was good statistics.
1. Argentina 4 6 2 2 0 2-0
2. Uruguay 4 4 2 0 2 6-2
3. Chile 4 4 2 0 2 7-5
4. Ecuador 4 4 1 2 1 2-2
5. Bolivia 4 2 0 2 2 0-8
Argentina ended first, which looks great on paper. In reality, the team was visibly lacking enthusiasm and played dull football. Uruguay clinched 2nd place and qualified to the final stage, but left mixed feelings – like, Argentina, the Uruguayans did not produce anything memorable and Tabarez clearly pointed that the tournament was not important to him. Was it true? Uruguay almost always had slow build-up, eventually reaching good form when mattered most. Chile disappointed a bit – it was expected that they will develop further after leaving good impression in the 1987 Copa America. But apparently this did not happen. True, Chile was missing key players, but they were no better than two years earlier and at the end missed a good chance to advance. Ecuador was the big surprise, yet it happen to be mostly taking advantage of opponents not at their best. Reality was finally seen when Ecuador played against Bolivia – good discipline and European marking were fine for surprising stronger teams, but true class was lacking. Too bad Ecuador was unable to advance, but they also did not deserve to go ahead. Bolivia… as expected, at the bottom. Three good players were just not enough in the 1980s and Bolivia had no more – nothing to blame them really: their weakness was not a matter of underperforming.