BUENOS AIRES // Carlos Tevez faces a private lecture from the coach Alfio Basile after being sent off for the second time in three internationals as Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Paraguay. Gabriel Heinze put through his own goal after only 13 minutes and Argentina were in further trouble when Tevez, sent off in the 2-1 defeat in Colombia in November, was dismissed again for two violent tackles in the 31st.
"I have to speak to him in private about these dismissals," Basile said. "I have already spoken to him about the Colombia incident. We will be alone and we will talk things over calmly." Argentina managed to snatch a draw when substitute Sergio Aguero scored from a chance set up by Lionel Messi just after the hour. The draw kept Paraguay top of the 10-team South American World Cup qualifying group with 14 points from seven games, two ahead of second-placed Argentina.
"It was one of those games where everything went wrong," said Argentina coach Alfio Basile. "We missed three of four good chances and I think we deserved to win the match." Paraguay's Argentine coach Gerardo Martino was frustrated. "We wasted an historic chance to win," he said Elsewhere, troubled Peru, won for the first time at the seventh attempt in qualifying, beating Venezuela 1-0 in front of a sparse crowd.
Striker Piero Alva scored the winner seven minutes before halftime. Ecuador beat Bolivia, who had midfielder Alejandro Gomez and coach Erwin Sanchez sent off 3-1 in Quito while, Columbia lost 1-0 at home to Uruguay. * Reuters