Brazil have little time left

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has criticised his players for not doing enough time-wasting after they conceded two goals in the last 15 minutes and lost 2-1 to Argentina on Wednesday.

Brazil led from the third to the 77th minute before finally capitulating to a defeat which put them in more trouble in the South American World Cup qualifying group.

"When one players falls down, another three have to fall with him," said Scolari, who in the past has publicly encouraged his team to the foul the opposition. We might get the odd yellow card, but that doesn't matter."

Otherwise, the man known as "Big Phil" said he had no complaints about a result which leaves Brazil in danger of missing out on the World Cup for the first time. "It was the logical outcome," he said.

Scolari admitted his team were dejected after being so close to at least one precious point. "Our heads are down. We gave away the first goal through inexperience more than anything else," he said.

Scolari pointed out that Brazil's fate was still in their own hands with three games left. The four-times world champions are fourth in the South American group from which the top four teams qualify for next year's finals and the fifth plays off against Oceania winners Australia.

Costa Rica qualified for the World Cup finals by beating the United States on Wednesday while Honduras and Mexico kept up their tooth-and-nail fight for a place in Japan and South Korea next year.

Two goals by Rolando Fonseca in San Jose made sure of a top-three finish for the Ticos, who lead the final stage of the marathon CONCACAF qualifying tournament with 19 points.

The remaining two places are almost certain to be filled by two out of Honduras, Mexico and the United States, who are separated by only one point after Wednesday's results.

South America (Top six)

P W D L F A Pts

Argentina 15 12 2 1 37 12 38

Paraguay 15 9 2 4 26 14 29

Ecuador 15 8 2 5 17 18 26

Brazil 15 7 3 5 25 14 24

Uruguay 15 7 3 5 16 10 24

Colombia 15 5 5 5 12 13 20 REMAINING FIXTURES - Oct 7th: Uruguay v Colombia; Brazil v Chile; Bolivia v Ecuador; Paraguay v Argentina; Venezuela v Peru. Nov 8th: Argentina v Peru; Bolivia v Brazil; Ecuador v Uruguay; Colombia v Chile; Venezuela v Paraguay. Nov 14th: Uruguay v Argentina; Brazil v Venezuela; Paraguay v Colombia; Chile v Ecuador; Peru v Bolivia.

CONCACAF

P W D L F A Pts

Costa Rica 8 6 1 1 16 7 19

Honduras 8 4 2 2 17 13 14

Mexico 8 4 1 3 13 9 13

United States 8 4 1 3 9 7 13

Jamaica 8 2 2 4 6 11 8

Trinidad 8 0 1 7 4 18 1

REMAINING FIXTURES - Oct 6th: Honduras v Trinidad; United States v Jamaica; Costa Rica v Mexico. Nov 10th: Jamaica v Costa Rica; Trinidad v United States; Mexico v Honduras.