Caracas: Venezuela beat Peru 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday to climb back into the fight for a fifth-spot playoff ticket to their first finals.
The win put Venezuela in seventh place in the 10-nation South American group on 21 points, behind Uruguay on goal difference and one point short of Argentina in fifth after they lost 1-0 to Paraguay in Asuncion.
Colombia trail in eighth with 20 points after losing 3-1 to Uruguay in Montevideo.
Venezuela played on a high note after their 2-2 draw against Chile in Santiago on Saturday, sounding an early warning with a powerful shot from Luis Manuel Seijas that Peruvian goalkeeper Leao Butron barely reached to turn away for a corner.
The first goal came from Venezuelan striker Nicolas Fedor who scored in the 32nd minute from Franklin Lucena's pass.
Already-eliminated Peru equalised in the 41st minute when Venezuelan defender Juan Fuenmayor attempted to clear a free kick but instead put the ball in his own goal.
Fedor restored Venezuela's advantage with his second goal in the 52nd minute and Ronald Vargas finished off the scoring in the 70th.
Group leaders Brazil, who have 33 points, and Paraguay (30) have secured their places in next year's finals in South Africa. Chile (27) and Ecuador (23) are the other teams in the four automatic qualifying places.
The team finishing fifth will go into a two-legged playoff against the fourth-placed CONCACAF team.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 12:21