Historic win for Venezuela

A dejected Argentina star Lionel Messi (L) leaves the pitch at the end of their 2014 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela at the Jose Antonio Anzoategui Olympic Stadium in Puerto La Cruz on Tuesday.Photo: AFP

The euphoria of Argentina's opening World Cup qualifying win over Chile vanished at a stroke on Tuesday as the two-time world champions slumped to an historic 1-0 loss to Venezuela.
Fernando Amorebieta bagged the only goal to stun Alejandro Sabella's side and send them back to square one, just when it seemed Friday's 4-1 thrashing of Chile had exorcised demons of a summer Copa America failure on home soil.
After the Chile game, Sabella, who replaced Sergio Batista in the wake of a Copa quarterfinal loss to eventual champions Uruguay, had ventured that the team had laid to rest an "apparent collective psychosis" regarding how Lionel Messi fits into the national team.
Last Friday, Barcelona wizard Messi had shone as brightly as ever in the national shirt, scoring one and laying on another for Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain.
But that was Buenos Aires.
On Tuesday it was a hot and sticky Puerto La Cruz in the Venezuelan Caribbean, which saw Argentina fail to kick on from last week's promising showing.
Amorebieta's powerful header from a corner on the hour settled the contest at the Jose Antonio Anzoategui, where the visitors huffed and puffed but proved unable to blow the Venezuelans' house down, making Argentina's home date with Bolivia on November 11 a must-win affair.
The hosts had also come into the qualifiers determined to prove themselves and desperate to show that their first ever run to the Copa semifinals was no fluke, after an opening qualifying loss in Ecuador.
Messi and Higuain sought in vain to impose their experience on the encounter as Venezuela stuck doggedly to their task.
In desperation, Sabella threw on Paris Saint-Germain's budding star Javier Pastore for Angel Di Maria, but to no avail.
Argentina now trail Uruguay, who conceded a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Paraguay, the side they defeated 3-0 in the Copa final.
Veteran Uruguay forward Diego Forlan netted his 32nd goal in the national shirt midway through the second half to move beyond the mark he previously shared with 1920s and 1930s hero Hector Scarone.
But in a dramatic finale, Richard Ortiz snatched the equaliser with seconds of injury time remaining.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Colombia edged out Bolivia 2-1 in La Paz courtesy of a late goal from Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao, who had only come on 12 minutes earlier in place of Teofilo Gutierrez.
Bolivia generally fare well at 3,600 metres altitude at their Hernando Siles stadium but this time were outfoxed.
In the other game, Chile beat Peru 4-2 in an entertaining encounter, with Waldo Ponce, Eduardo Vargas, Gary Medel and Humberto Suazo on target for Chile, while Claudio Pizarro and Jefferson netted consolations for Peru.
RESULTS
Venezuela 1 (Amorebieta 62) Argentina 0
Bolivia 1 (Flores 84) Colombia 2 (Pabon 48), Falcao (90+2)
Paraguay 1 (Ortiz 90+2)
Uruguay 1 (Forlan 68)
Chile 4 (Ponce 2, Vargas 17, Medel 47, Suazo 63) Peru 2 (Pizarro 49, Farfan 59)