Assuming that South American powers Argentina and Brazil, as well as CONMEBOL standings leader Paraguay, are all but assured of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, SI.com's Tim Vickery predicts that the race for the fourth and final (full) berth from the region will come down to Chile and Uruguay, which face off in a crucial qualifier tomorrow.

Already three points ahead of Uruguay, a Chile win on Wednesday "would put one foot on South African soil" and give them "every right to start making tentative plans for its first appearance in the World Cup since 1998," writes Vickery of the attack-minded team under Argentina Marcelo Bielsa.

On the other side of things, Uruguay will be looking to take advantage of Chile's poor aerial defense and unleash strikers Diego Forlan and Sebastian Abreu in order to add to its qualification-leading goal total. Having already upset group leader Paraguay, Uruguay is very much a contender and even with a loss to Chile is still a good bet to earn the confederation's fifth place playoff spot.

 

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