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Argentina were outplayed and beaten 1-0 by a Chilean team led by their former coach Marcelo Bielsa in the World Cup qualifiers while Brazil continued their astonishing run of goalless draws at home.

Dunga's team, held 0-0 by Bolivia last month and Argentina in June, this time played out a dismal stalemate with Colombia as the Maracana crowd jeered the team, insulted the coach and then left early.

Paraguay moved further ahead at the top of the 10-team South American group with a late 1-0 win over bottom side Peru and Venezuela kept their faint hopes of a first World Cup appearance alive by coming from behind to beat Ecuador 3-1.

Paraguay, who have won seven of their 10 matches, have 23 points, six clear of Brazil.

Argentina are third with 16 points and only six separate them from eighth-placed Venezuela, with Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador and Colombia sandwiched in between.

The top four qualify directly for a place at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa and the fifth plays off against a side from the North and Central American CONCACAF region for another place.

Argentina and Brazil, who both won at the weekend, continued their inconsistent campaigns.

Argentina, missing mercurial playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme through suspension, never found an answer to a lively, creative Chile team led by their former mentor Bielsa, whose six-year stint in charge included the 2002 World Cup.

Fabian Orellana turned in the winner in the 36th minute in Santiago following a sweeping move to move Chile level on 16 points with their opponents and give them their first win over their neighbours for 35 years.

"I have never seen a performance like this from Chile: it was amazing how much running they did, they were like a machine and pressed us in every part of the pitch," said Argentina coach Alfio Basile.

"It seemed like there were 15 of them against 11 of us. We thought they would get tired in the second half but they kept going very well."

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil struggled to muster a chance against a resolute but negative Colombia team, who completed their fifth qualifier without scoring and have managed a total of only four goals.

Kaka blamed their lethargy on the 15-hour journey home from Venezuela following their 4-0 win over Sunday.

"I don't like to make excuses, but the journey took its toll," he said.

Substitute Edgar Benitez, called into the squad as a replacement for the injured Roque Santa Cruz, scored an 82nd minute winner in Asuncion to keep Paraguay on course for a fourth successive World Cup.

In Puerto La Cruz, Ecuador got the perfect start with Isaac Mina headed them in front after 10 minutes.

Venezuela, however, hit back as Giancarlo Maldonado, Alejandro Moreno and Juan Arango scored in a 25-minute spell after the break, giving them their first win in six qualifiers under Cesar Farias.

The defeat left Ecuador in sixth place on 12 points.

"I'm to blame but the dream of going to the World Cup is still intact," said Ecuador coach Sixto Vizuete.

CONCACAF

Jamaica followed up Saturday's shock 1-0 home win over Mexico with a repeat performance against Honduras to stay in the hunt for a place in the final round of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

El Salvador booked their spot with a 3-0 win over Suriname while Trinidad & Tobago are virtually there after Russell Latapy and Dwight Yorke, who have a combined age of 76, gave them a 2-1 win over a weakened United States.

Mexico are also close to advancing to the final round of North and Central American qualifiers despite being held 2-2 by already-eliminated Canada, a result that will heap more pressure on under-fire Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Norwegian-based striker Luton Shelton rounded Noel Valladares to score Jamaica's only goal in the 16th minute in Kingston and give caretaker coach Theodore Whitmore his second successive win since replacing Rene Simoes.

Jamaica are third in Group Two in the third stage of the region's qualifiers with seven points while Mexico lead with 10 and Honduras are second with nine. The top two go through.

Honduras host Mexico in their final game while Jamaica entertain Canada in what is likely to be their first game under former England forward John Barnes, who is due to take over from Whitmore in November.

Mexico twice had to come behind to force a draw in Edmonton, Carlos Salcido and Argentine-born Matias Vuoso replying after Ali Gerba, with his sixth goal of the tournament, and Tomasz Radzinski had put the hosts ahead.

Latapy, 40, gave Trinidad the lead just after the hour in Port of Spain and Dwight Yorke, four years his junior, scored the winner from a 79th minute penalty after Charlie Davies had levelled for the visitors.

The US, top of Group One with 12 points and already qualified, rested eight first-team regulars for the match.

Trinidad are second with eight points and need a draw at home to Cuba next month to progress to the six-team final round.

Guatemala, three points behind, were virtually eliminated after a 2-1 loss in Cuba, who had lost all four previous games.

Allianni Urgelles scored an 87th-minute winner for the Cubans. Guatemala visit the US next month.

El Salvador, needing just a draw to follow Costa Rica through from Group Three, beat Suriname 3-0.

Rodolfo Zelaya and Eliseo Quintanilla put them 2-0 ahead in less than half an hour before Derrik Garden put through his own goal late in the game. Costa Rica beat Haiti 2-0 to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Reuters