Ecuador crushed Bolivia 3-1 to keep up their chances of qualifying for the World Cup next year.

Win gives Ecuador renewed hope

Ecuador crushed Bolivia 3-1 to keep up their chances of qualifying for the World Cup next year. Bolivia, who had already lost all chance of reaching the finals, should have fallen behind in the third minute but Jefferson Montero hit the bar with an empty net at his mercy. Two minutes later, Edison Mendez made amends for his team-mate's glaring miss when he slipped through the poor Bolivian marking to shoot home past keeper Hugo Suarez. Suarez made good saves from left-back Walter Ayovi and Mendez but Antonio Valencia rifled the ball past the keeper less than a minute after the interval for the second goal. Valencia skipped past his marker on the right in the 57th minute and hit a low cross which Cristian Benitez turned into the net for the third. Bolivia pulled one back in the 86th minute when substitute Gerardo Yecerotte headed a cross into the bottom corner at the far post. The fourth-placed team qualifies automatically for the finals in South Africa, but the fifth-placed team at the end of the qualifiers next month will play off against a CONCACAF team.