Paraguay beat Chile, 3-0, on the road to move into first place with 10 points -- three wins and a tie -- ahead of Argentina, which lost, 2-1, at Colombia on Tuesday.
Colombia and Brazil are tied for third with eight points in the 10-team group that breaks until next June.
(The top four teams advance to the 2010 finals; the fifth-place team meets the No. 4 CONCACAF team in a playoff.)
Luis Fabiano scored twice to give Brazil a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Uruguay, but the Brazil hero was goalie Julio Cesar, who made several big stops to stymie the Celeste.
Salvador Cabanas gave Paraguay the lead in Santiago, and defender Paulo da Silva scored twice on headers, both from corners, to seal the win.
Four days after Coach Luis Suarez quit following its 5-1 loss to Paraguay, Ecuador rebounded under interim coach Sixto Vizuete with a 5-1 win of its own over winless Peru.
SOUTH AMERICA
Results:
Nov. 20
Colombia 2 (Bustos 62, Moreno 83) Argentina 1 (Messi 37).
Venezuela 5 (Arismendi 20, 44, Guerra 83, Maldonado 89, 90) Bolivia 3 (Martins 19, 78, Arce 27).
Nov. 21
Chile 0 Paraguay 3 (Cabanas 24, da Silva 45+3, 57).
Brazil 2 (Luis Fabiano 44, 65) Uruguay 1 (Abreu 8).
Ecuador 5 (Ayovi 10, 48, Kaviedes 24, Mendez 44, 62) Peru 1 (Mendoza 86).
Standings:
Paraguay 10 points;
Argentina 9;
Brazil 8;
Colombia 8;
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Venezuela 6;
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Uruguay 5;
Chile 4;
Ecuador 3;
Peru 2;
Bolivia 1
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