Chile held by Colombia, Argentina v Brazil rained off

Chile captain Claudio Bravo made some fine saves in the second half / ANFP.CL
Claudio Bravo’s side draw in Santiago while a waterlogged pitch in Buenos Aires means the high profile World Cup qualifer will be played 24 hours later

20 minutes for Munir

Barça’s Munir El Haddadi came on as a 73rd minute substitute in the Spain U21 team’s 5-0 win over Georgia in a European Championship qualifier, coming on for  Iñaki Williams. Former Barça man Deulofeu was the man of the match with a hat-trick for the side coached by Albert Celades.

Chile have lost their one hundred per cent in World Cup qualifying after their game at home to Colombia on Thursday ended in a 1-1 draw. FC Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo played all 90 minutes for the Copa American champions, who went ahead thanks to a header from Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal on the stroke of half-time.

However, James Rodríguez’s 68th minute right-footer got the ‘cafeteros’ back on level terms. Bravo, who was booked for protesting after 65 minutes, produced a string of saves to prevent the visitors from adding to the disappointment, including one right at the very end. So, there was no further score and it all ended 1-1. Next up for Chile is a trip to Montevideo to face Uruguay on November 18.

Rain stops play in Argentina

The heavy rain that fell on Buenos Aires on Thursday meant that the high profile qualifier between Argentina and Brazil at the Estadio Monumental was suspended and will instead be played 24 hours later, on Friday at 9.00pm local time (1.00am CET). Argentina have just one point from their opening two matches, while Brazil lost to Chile in their opening fixture but then defeated Venezuela 3-1.

[[DES_1]]Barça players Neymar and Dani Alves are in the Brazilian squad and Javier Mascherano is named amongst the Argentinian contingent. Neymar is making his first appearance for the national side since completing the ban he received during the 2015 Copa América and he will be one of the key threats for Dunga’s side against a Messi-less Argentina.

Without Luis Suárez, Uruguay dropped their first points in the Conmebol qualification zone went they went down 2-1 in Quito to Ecuador, who top the table as the only team with the maximum points from the games so far.

European friendlies

The South American national sides are not the only ones in action this week. European sides already through to Euro 2016 have friendly matches on their agenda ahead of the tournament next summer in France. A Spain squad including Iniesta, Busquets, Piqué, Alba and Bartra face England in Alicante on Friday (kick 8.45pm CET).

In other international matches Arda Turan’s Turkey side face Qatar (6.30pm CET) and Thomas Vermaelen is back after injury for Belgium as they also have a friendly at home to Italy (8.45pm CET).