Argentina coach Gerardo Martino says Tuesday’s 2018 World Cup

qualifier at Colombia is a must-win for his injury-ravaged side after

they were left frustrated by 10-man Brazil.

The result Friday in Buenos Aires — where arch rivals Brazil came

from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw — meant Argentina are winless after

three games of South America’s marathon qualifying campaign, with only

two points from a possible nine.

“We have to win in Colombia,” Martino said after watching his side —

shorn of a glut of injured stars including Lionel Messi and Sergio

Aguero — turn in a dominant performance against Brazil but fail to come

away with maximum points.

“We do not need to look at the table to know that we need to win,” he said.

“Colombia away is not going to be same game as Brazil,” he added. “We

need to try to take control of the game but I believe we will face a

team that is going to attack more.”

Colombia, sixth in the 10-team South American table, will be without

Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez, who injured an ankle in the

1-1 draw at Copa America champions Chile last week.

Carlos Sanchez and Santiago Arias will also be unavailable due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Midfielder Edwin Cardona said the Colombians are well aware of the threat posed by Argentina, even without Messi.

“They have great players,” he told reporters. “Even with several absentees they have quality players to replace them.

“Argentina are going to have the ball and will be a little more

offensive… Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria are quite explosive.

The key will be to keep the ball.”

Brazil — whose campaign also got off to a rocky start with defeat at

Chile — will be trying to solidify their grasp on fourth place in the

table when they host Peru at the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador.

Ecuador, who top the table with a maximum nine points, will seek to

add another victory before qualifying breaks until March when they visit

Venezuela, who have yet to win a point.

Chile, second in the

standings with seven points, can expect a feisty challenge when they

visit Uruguay, who have six points from their first three matches.

Both opened qualifying with back-to-back victories before Chile were

held to a 1-1 draw by Colombia on Thursday as Uruguay fell 2-1 to

Ecuador.

The two teams met in a bruising Copa America quarter-final, when

Chile sent nine-man Uruguay crashing out amid controversy over

provocative tactics.

Chile defender Gonzalo Jara was later thrown out of the tournament

over his attempt to shove his finger into the backside of Uruguay

striker Edinson Cavani — who was sent off for retaliating.

Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz has urged his team to ignore any attempts by Uruguay to reignite tensions.

“What happened between Jara and Cavani is part of football. We will

not fall prey to any provocations and will try to bring home the

points,” he said.

Uruguay captain Diego Godin denied that Uruguay players are still angry about the Copa America match.

“This is not a ‘rematch,'” he said.