Uruguay vs Argentina Live Score and Commentary, FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers URU vs ARG

PEEEEEEEEEP! PEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Boos ring out as the referee brings to close a monumentally dull 0-0 draw.

Neither side looked like they were genuinely interested in troubling the man in charge of the scoreboard and Uruguay remain firmly entrenched in third while Argentina remain in that precarious fifth, playoff, position.

That's all from me, Anirudh Menon signing out...

Toodle-ooo!

92' No mistakes were made, the free kick is cleared till Jimenez whose decent effort is straight at Romero.

91' Sampaoli brings off Di Maria for Joaquin Correa - not sure a substitution's the best move just before defending a set-piece...

90'' At the other end an isolated Cavani does well to hold the ball up and draw a silly foul that Rodriguez will look to take advantage from.

89' OOOOO! Some nice passing from Argentina is punctuated with a superb-looking Pastore ball that just evades an onrushing Acosta at the far post.

87' Pass. Pass. Pass. Must have been a million passes before Biglia pings one out to Di Maria who wastes the opportunity with a wild cross into the box that Godin clears with contemptuous ease

86' Whistles ring through the air as Argentina go pass-pass-pass not allowing Uruguay a sniff of the ball... Tabarez's men are more than happy to let Argentina pass it around the halfway line

84' Messi is still hovering around the centre circle as Uruguay go further into their shell - there is absolutely none of the trademark Sampaoli fire and blood gusto in this side. Yet.

82' If anything, Suarez should have gotten a yellow for the challenge that sees him limping off the pitch, applauding his beloved supporters... he went with a studs up challenge that smacked into Otamendi's ankle! No yellows, though, and Girona's hero Christian Stuani comes on in his stead. One Catalan club's talisman for an other's, then.

81' Suarez is limping around - the man is clearly not fit at all - and he gets into further trouble by going hard into a 50-50 with Biglia... Uruguay and Barcelona hold their collective breath as he lays on the ground, seemingly in great pain. Doesn't look like he can continue.

79' OOOO! Icardi turns Godin inside the box before losing his footing as he attempted to get on the end of a Di Maria ball - the ref does well to ignore his admittedly half-hearted appeals for a penalty and wave play on

78' Biglia takes the kick - and it's a tasty one - but Jimenez does well to clear out of touch. Messi places the corner short and pass-pass-pass go the men in sky blue and white.

77' The ball is decent, and it does trouble Argentina, but somehow they scramble it clear to Messi. The Argentine captain then does the only thing he can do to relieve pressure and runs straight through the park - before Rodriguez resigns himself to a yellow and pulls him down by his shirt sleeves

76' Hah. Just as I type that Suarez wins a clever freekick of Fernandez. A good delivery could trouble this Argentine defence - who are holding an unusually high line

75' Nothing's happening. Oh, why is nothing happening?

73' The commentator on TV has just called this a war of attrition. That's just the polite Brit way of saying this game has been complete and utter drivel for large, extended parts of it.

71' He comes on and within a couple of seconds wins a yellow card - Javier Pastore gets into the book for a professional foul on Caceres as he looked set to lead a counter. The delivery from the initial freekick, though, was sublime - and the defending of it even better

70' Another poor call from the ref as Dybala goes down after losing his footing, and Nandez gets penalised for being close to him. The Juve man is then hooked for Javier Pastore and is accompanied off the field by a chorus of loud boos.

68' The home side move forward with more purpose than they have shown for a while - and win a corner, but alas! for the big crowd assembled, nothing happens.

67' Uruguay look to break forward at pace but Acosta pulls back Gonzalez... the home side are grateful for the break and take the opportunity to bring on Corujo for a thoroughly exhausted Gonzalez

65' OOO naughty, naughty Edinson. Cavani leads with his forearm as he challenges for an aerial ball with Mercado - and the Argentine defender is left sprawling on the ground feeling the affects of that one!

64' Argentina are dominating the game at the moment, but they are finding an end product elusive. Acosta gets pulled up for an offside call that looked very much onside... and the linesman was just five yards from the action. Bad call, that. But there haven't been too many of that this game... so lets let the officials off the hook on that one

63' Messi does a Messi through the middle of the park before slipping in Di Maria on the left flank... the latter though kills the move with a disappointing ball straight at Muslera.

61' Messi smashes one at goal but it deflects off Godin and out for a corner... the setpiece delivery is much better this time from the great man but Caceres does superbly at the far post to clear the ball.

60' OOOO A chance for Saurez at the near post, but Vecino had run out of pitch before putting the ball into the box; so won't go down as a chance missed, Luis. Sampaoli has seen enough and pulls out Acuna for Acosta.

59' Unsurprisingly the corner is filth - and is straight at Muslera

58' OHOHOHOH!!! MESSI CURLS IT At GOAL AND MUSLERA HAS TO FLY TO HIS LEFT TO PAW IT AWAY! Leo Messi is getting closer, and the tension in the cold night air serves as a testament to the fact that the crowd sense that as well.

57' Tackles fly around the edge of the Uruguay box as three or four challenges are put in by the two teams - till the ref penalises Christian Rodriguez for another wild lunge - this time into Paulo Dybala. The freekick is in what can only be described as THE Leo Messi zone.

55' Dybala turns Rodriguez with ease before accelerating into the box, where he runs into Godin... the little jewel gets nothing out of that apart from severe body pain... Uruguay counter but Mercado does well to usher Suarez out of the danger area. The two then engage in a full and frank exchange of views that has the crowd all excited - Romero gets in there to separate the two and it's all back to normal. ish.

53' OH MY! ARGENTINA COME CLOSE! A corner from Di Maria pinballs across the face of the Uruguayan goal before Cavani smashes it straight up - his mates do well to make sure it's cleared further upfield after that.

52' HIGH DRAMA! HOW DID SUAREZ BUNGLE THAT ONE! A quick ball from deep in the Uruguayan half lets Suarez free one v one against Romero - but he loses his footing just as he's about to control the high ball and Romero and the furiously backtracking Fernandez are able to clear it - the crowd bays for a foul, but Suarez doesn't and if he doesn't ask for a foul, it certainly isn't one.

50' Yellow card for Mercado as he piles into Suarez - the free kick from the Uruguayan skipper, though, is rubbish and doesn't clear the first man.

49' A lovely ball from Messi slips in Icardi, but the ball's a bit too wide for the striker to get a good angle on his shot, or any power for that matter, and it trundles safely into Muslera's hands.

48' OOOO Angel Di Maria.. the acting left wing-back does supremely well under intense pressure from Luis Suarez as the Barca man forces the issue deep into the Argentine box. Great defending, there

47' The freekick is played short and Messi tries to dribble his way through the entire defence - but that's not happening, this isn't Panama - and Uruguay counter at pace.

46' Luis Suarez and Leo Messi exchange hushed whispers before Senor Cario asks the teams to get on with it. Argentina continue to pass it around with ease... before Messi gets slammed into by Gonzalez; an action that prompts a mini - mob hounding the refereee... the Argentine half of said mob is incensed by the lunge, and they get a little sated when the ref flashes a yellow card at the Uruguayan offender.

PEEEEP! WE'RE BACK!

PEEP! PEEP! HALFTIME! URUGUAY 0-0 ARGENTINA!

A rather insipid first half - apart from isolated moments of excitement - comes to end with the scores still very much level. Argentina need this win more than the home side, so expect La Albiceleste to come out with all guns blazing post the break and a rollicking from the Samp.

The only way is up

46' One minute added time - Di Maria's cross is blocked and Uruguay counter, but Fernandez and Mercado do well to see off Suarez and Cavani.

44' Or maybe not. Uruguay stream forward off a freekick and Rodriguez works his way into space on the left flank from where he tries to dig a decent ball into the box, but Fernandez is having none of that. Dybala turns on the style to motor away into space in the middle, but his pass to Acuna is too wayward for the winger to keep the move alive

42' Messi twists and turns away from Vecino with that absurd ease he seems to exude every time he decides to bring his A game... he rushes into the box, plays a neat one-two with Dybala and passes the ball toward the near corner of the goal, but Muslera gets a good save in. The corner, as usual, amounts to nothing... but that was the first sign of any life from Messi, and that would have rattled Uruguay

40' Uruguay move forward purposefully again - spurred onto life by the previous minute's action - but their momentum is derailed when Jimenez is pulled up for a wild lunge on Biglia in the Argentine third. It's so wild that it earns him a special place in the ref's naughty book... yellow for the central defender

39' After all that inactivity, action at the other end. It never rains but it pours and all that.. Biglia lets fly with an effort from the edge of the box and it takes a deflection on its way past Muslera's near post... Messi's corner, though, is disappointing, and easily caught by Muslera.

38' OH MY! FIRST REAL ACTION OF THE MATCH! Christian Rodriguez absolutely leathers the ball at Romero and the United man blocks it straight back into the box where CAVANI IS ON HAND TO POUNCE! Romero, though, does superbly to atone for his mistake by coming out and smothering the PSG man's effort!

37' Interesting aside; the two technical boxes are as far apart as I've ever seen... no chance of Sampaoli's incessant walking around irritating anyone in the opposite dugout

34' OOOOO! For all their defensive attitude, when Uruguay do spring forward they look more likely to break the deadlock than the dominant visitors. Caceras springs forward at pace but is brought down by Otamendi, the ref waves play on as Rodriguez picks up the loose ball and attempts to square it to Suarez in the middle, but Fernadez does well to get in the way.

33' Oscar Tabarez looks absolutely disgusted as he watches Jimenez ping a ball intended for Caceres straight to someone in tier Z. As well he should be, that was ridiculously poor.

31' OHOHOHO!! Edinson Cavani does superbly to intercept a Mercado pass intended for Federico and Suarez pounces on it before attempting to lob Romero from the half-way line! The audacious attempts brings some life back to the crowd, but doesn't trouble Romero unduly as he watches it bounces off the top off his goal net.

30' The corner is worked short and Messi squares up an unfortunate Nahdez before curling a slow looping shot well wide of the far post - but just inches away from a lunging Icardi!

29' Dybala turns on a dime before attempting a quick pot-shot; it bounces off Godin and Argentina have a corner...

Uruguay vs Argentina Live Score and Commentary, FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers URU vs ARG

Uruguay 0-0 Argentina