While the Portland Timbers were on international break, three players were still active with their national teams last week.
Defender Bill Tuiloma scored his first ever international goal for New Zealand as the All Whites defeated CuraƧao 2-1 Saturday in an international friendly in Bahrain. Tuiloma teed up a free kick in the ninth minute that deflected off a CuraƧao defender and snuck inside the far post to give his team an early lead. The Timbers defender played 89 minutes before being subbed out for Minnesota United FC' defender Michael Boxall.
Tuiloma and New Zealand will next play a friendly against Bahrain on Oct. 12.
Meanwhile, in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying action, forward Felipe Mora's Chile lost 2-0 to Peru on Oct. 7 but came back to earn an important three points against Paraguay on Oct. 10 in a 2-0 victory. Mora made the bench for both matches but did not see time on the field.
Defender Pablo Bonilla did not feature in Venezuela's 3-1 loss to Brazil on Oct. 7 nor their 2-1 win over Ecuador on Oct. 10.
The CONMEBOL qualification process for the 2022 Qatar World Cup involves 10 teams playing each other in a home-and-away, round robin format with the top four teams gaining entry to Qatar and the fifth place team moving on to a inter-confederation playoff. Currently, Peru is in seventh place on 11 points through 11 games played. They are five points behind fourth place Uruguay and four points behind fifth place Colombia. Venezuela is in 10th place on seven points through 11 matches.
Next up, it'll be a Timbers vs. Timbers match on Oct. 14 as Venezuela travels to face Peru on Oct. 14.
UPDATE (OCT. 15)
Though Felipe Mora nor Pablo Bonilla featured in the match, Mora's Chile defeated Venezuela 3-0 in their Oct. 14 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier. Chile, in sixth place in the confederation qualifier standings, remains three points behind fifth place Uruguay while Venezuela is in last place.
Earlier in the week, Bill Tuiloma's New Zealand defeated Bahrain 1-0 in a friendly. Tuiloma did not make an appearance in the match.
