2002 World Cup - Colombia 1 Argentina 3

New AS Roma hero Gabriel Batistuta hit two goals for Argentina in a 3-1 win against Colombia that gives them control of the CONMEBOL section of 2002 World Cup qualifiers.

Argentina now lead the table by four points after winning their four matches so far with rivals Brazil in second place.

Batistuta did not finish the game after a second half substitution but by then he had scored the goals which beat Colombia.

Claudio Lopez created both efforts with fine runs and measured crosses. This quality approach work allowed Batistuta to evade marking and hit the target from close range in the 24th minute and again in the dying seconds of the first half.

Frank Oviedo had brought Colombia level in the 27th minute with a header from a Freddie Rincon free kick but this was their only real chance as their best player on the night was goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba who twice saved well from Lopez to keep the score down.

Hernan Crespo - set to join Italian champions SS Lazio from parma next week - replaced Batistuta and he completed the scoring with a shot on the run in the 72nd minute in an impressive display by the Argentina team.