Conmebol published this Friday the schedule of matches corresponding to dates 13 and 14 of the South American Qualifiers on the way to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The announcement regarding the November international window generated surprise since there was a modification regarding the day on which the Río de la Plata classic will be played between the teams of Argentina and Uruguay.
Although it was expected that the clash between Oscar Washington Tabárez and Lionel Scaloni would be on Thursday, November 11, this will finally be on Friday 12 at 20 in Montevideo. Then, the Albiceleste team will return to the country and, with one day of rest less than originally scheduled, will face Brazil on Thursday 16 at 20:30. The duel against those of Tité will be played at the Bicentennial stadium in the province of San Juan.
Uruguay has already presented a preliminary list of 32 players for the duel against Argentina and the subsequent one, which will be against Bolivia in La Paz. These two parties will be key regarding the continuity of Tabárez at the head of the Charrúa cast. The Master’s 15-year cycle was close to ending after his team’s last Playoff games in which he scored just one point out of nine possible. Finally, he was confirmed in the position, but he is obliged to improve his performance and climb in a position table in which he occupies fifth place today.
There is a very close precedent between both teams: on October 10, Argentina stood out with a 3-0 win at the Monumental Stadium. It was in the match valid for the fifth date of the Qualifiers, which had been postponed in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Against Brazil, meanwhile, Argentina will star in a duel that will surely have numerous extra football seasonings after what was that suspension of the match on September 5 in São Paulo. That day, the health authorities of the neighboring country stormed the playing field with the intention of taking a group of Albiceleste players accused of having breached the local covid-19 protocols and caused a scandal that traveled the world.
Regarding the World Cup qualification, Brazil leads the classification with 31 points, followed by Argentina with 25. Third is Ecuador, with 17, and fourth, Colombia, with 16. So far the four teams that would be achieving direct tickets to Qatar 2022. Then, in fifth place – which gives the chance to play a playoff against a representative from Oceania – Uruguay appears, also with 16 points, but with a worse goal difference.
