Soccer-Argentina find way to cope without Messi

By Rex Gowar Nov 18 (Reuters) - Argentina took four matches to bed down tactics to help them win without Lionel Messi, closing the year with a 1-0 victory in Colombia that augurs well when the World Cup qualifiers resume in March with a fit captain. No longer racked by uncertainty in the absence of their talisman after last month's poor results in the opening matches of the South American group, Argentina were the better team in a 1-1 draw with Brazil last week followed by Tuesday's first win. Coach Gerardo Martino had appealed for the players' commitment to his attacking philosophy and tactics despite the squad's disappointment in July when they failed to beat Chile in the Copa America final. Martino will go into the next round of qualifiers in March sure that his players can deliver as a team with or without Messi, who had never previously missed four consecutive competitive internationals. "The most important thing is that today (Tuesday) the team showed again the character needed to play in the Argentine national team," said Javier Mascherano, who dictated the pace from central midfield as stand-in captain against Colombia. "We had (that character) to play in a difficult venue and above all in a complicated situation (in the standings). "We leave satisfied because we had a good double-header, we got four points against two leading rivals, not at all bad," he told reporters after helping to keep Colombia danger man James Rodriguez in check. Argentina, sixth in the 10-team group, still face a tough task to rein in the teams above them who occupy the four qualifying berths for the 2018 finals in Russia and the fifth-place playoff slot. SURPRISE LEADERS Ecuador, who started with a shock 2-0 win in Buenos Aires last month, are the surprise leaders with a perfect 12 points after a 3-1 victory in Venezuela on Tuesday. Uruguay are second with nine points after a 3-0 rout of Copa America holders Chile in Montevideo. Brazil are third after beating Peru 3-0 and Paraguay fourth following a 2-1 home win over Bolivia with Chile slipping to fifth, with all three on seven points. Martino was thrilled with the win, Argentina's third in a row in the hot Caribbean city of Barranquilla where Colombia have played most of their home qualifiers since the late 1980s. "I feel happy and calm because we continued what we did against Brazil, we had a day's less rest and played in a stifling climate," Martino said. "If we'd lost, (critics) would have said the players ran less and didn't back the coach, but they showed the opposite." Martino has had a good response from young newcomers to the team such as defender Ramiro Funes Mori and striker Paulo Dybala as he builds on the core group that were World Cup and Copa America runners-up. Colombia coach Jose Pekerman was left rueing his team's lost opportunity to make home advantage pay and consolidate on their good performance in Chile last week. "We started on the wrong foot... We got anxious when we couldn't play as we had envisaged," the Argentine said. "Football has these situations, we need to give confidence (to the players) to believe again." (Editing by Ken Ferris)