Ecuador 1 - Bolivia 0

Ecuador needed to keep pace with Colombia in order to maintain their direct qualification position out of CONMEBOL.  They welcomed Bolivia to the Estadio Atahualpa in Quito.  Ecuador always held the upper hand in the match, but Bolivia's defense made it so that their goal was rarely challenged.  Few attacks were successful in a scoreless first half.

An antsy home crowd was made to wait until twenty minutes remained in the match for the seminal moment.  The very same Ecuador team that was given an offsides goal to defeat Colombia at home was now given a phantom penalty so that they could beat Bolivia at home.  Luis Saritama pulled the dirtiest of flops in the opponent's box, and referee Juan Soto bit on the fake.  The penalty was expertly converted by Felipe Caicedo (pictured, yellow), but the resulting 1-0 final score was nevertheless completely undeserved.  Ecuador have two straight home wins instead of the two straight home draws they actually earned, so they have amassed twelve points instead of the true eight they earned.  These four points will likely be what push them over the edge and into Brasil 2014, further proof that it is better to be lucky than good.

Goals
Ecuador
Felipe Caicedo 72 PK

Match Reports:
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?id=17627223&ps=3290&srce=news_class&action=4&lang=es&_LT=UNLC_DPNWU00L4_UNEWS

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Pvs7pNMFM&feature=g-all-u

Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__7e2UyCkxM (1st half)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-LaLJZaOAE (2nd half)