Uruguay win in Chile without Suarez, Mexico lose to Belarus
By Rex Gowar
MANCHESTER England (Reuters) - Uruguay made light of the absence of striker Luis Suarez to recover from a goal down and beat 2015 Copa America hosts Chile 2-1 in a friendly in Santiago.
In a spate of friendlies on Tuesday involving Latin American teams, Colombia beat Slovenia 1-0 in Ljubljana but Mexico followed last week’s impressive away win over the Netherlands with a 3-2 loss to Belarus in Borisov.
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez released Suarez for the match because the forward, serving an nine-match competitive ban for biting at the World Cup, will be unavailable when they defend their Copa America title next year.
Alexis Sanchez headed Chile into the lead close to the half hour from Fabian Orellana’s cross but Uruguay snatched an equaliser on the stroke of halftime when Diego Rolan headed in Carlos Sanchez’s cross.
Midfielder Alvaro Gonzalez scored the winner 10 minutes from time with a low shot.
MEXICO DEFEAT
In Borisov, four goals in the space of seven minutes early in the second half including two from striker Raul Jimenez had Mexico level at 2-2 with Belarus.
However, the home side scored a late winner through Pavel Nekhaychik with Mexico coach Miguel Herrera saying: “We underestimated rivals we shouldn’t have and it goes to show that in football today if you get overconfident and think you’re better you’re going to end up losing.”
In Ljubljana, striker Adrian Ramos scored from James Rodriguez’s 43rd-minute free kick to give Colombia a second tour win after beating the United States 2-1 in London on Friday.
Peru, down to 10 men from the 66th minute when striker Paolo Guerrero was sent off, came from behind to beat Paraguay 2-1 in Lima following their loss to the same rivals by the same score in Asuncion last week.
Guerrero was shown the red card for a second booking when he handled the ball. Peru’s Yordi Reyna and Derlis Gonzalez of Paraguay were sent off in added time.
Venezuelan-born substitute Carlos Ascues scored twice in the last 17 minutes after Roque Santa Cruz had given Paraguay the lead before halftime with a record 30th goal for his country.
Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-2 at high altitude in La Paz for their first win in 16 internationals, a run dating back to February 2013.
(Additional reporting by Estaban Farat and Malena Castaldi in Montevideo, Marco Aquino in Lima and Carlos Calvo in Mexico City; editing by Justin Palmer)
