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Joy for Suarez, irritation for Messi in qualifiers

Copa America winners Uruguay lead the nine-nation South American group with seven points from three matches, followed by Colombia, who have a game in hand, Argentina, Paraguay and Venezuela.

Colombia let three points slip away at home when Venezuela scored a late equaliser for a 1-1 draw, while Paraguay snatched their first win, 2-1 at home to Ecuador.

Uruguay's Suarez said it had been hard to contain his emotions after the four-goal performance.

"You want to burst into tears, your stomach turns," he said. The striker came off in the 77th minute to a standing ovation at the Centenario in Montevideo.

"I have a great admiration for how he went overcoming challenges in his career," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.

"The week was not simple but what happened up to this match is history. We're going to talk about how they felt," he told the post-match news conference.

"We can't let another single point escape us, we're angry because we had chances to score but we were unlucky," a visibly irritated Messi told reporters.

It was Bolivia's first World Cup qualifying point in Argentina in nine games.

"The important thing was to take precautions with Messi because he's a player who, if you don't control him, he'll win the match... so we gave him little room," Bolivia coach Gustavo Quinteros said.