Superb free-kicks light up qualifying

Juan Roman Riquelme converted two superb free-kicks to give Argentina a 2-0 win over Chile at the start of South America's World Cup qualifying campaign late on Saturday.

Riquelme was upstaged, however, by Venezuela defender Jose Manuel Rey, who converted a free-kick from an improbable position near the halfway line to give his side a 1-0 win in Ecuador.

Peru were held 0-0 at home by Paraguay and Uruguay demolished dispirited Bolivia 5-0 in the day's other games.

Brazil were playing Colombia late yesterday to complete the first of 18 rounds of matches in the two-year competition in which the region's 10 teams play each other home and away.

Argentina coach Alfio Basile gambled on Riquelme, who has not played for his Spanish club Villarreal this season after falling out with coach Manuel Pellegrini.

In his first match since Argentina's 3-0 defeat by Brazil in the Copa America final in July, Riquelme repaid Basile in style at the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires.

After Chile, whose coach Marcelo Bielsa was in charge of Argentina from 1998 to 2004, had made a bright start, Riquelme broke the deadlock by curling a 20-metre shot into the top right hand corner in the 27th minute.

Eighteen minutes later, he struck again by sending another shot into the same corner from a more difficult position.

Chile's hopes ended when defender Cristian Alvarez was sent off for crashing into Javier Mascherano nine minutes into the second half.

"People can think what they like about Riquelme. When I selected him, I knew he had been training well," said Basile.

"A player of his standard is not going to forget how to play football."