AC Milan's Kaka scored a pair of goals to lead Brazil to a 5-0 rout of Ecuador on Wednesday for its first victory in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Ronaldinho, Vagner Love and Elano completed the scoring to leave Brazil unbeaten in qualifying, following a 0-0 draw in its opening game against Colombia last Sunday.
For winless Ecuador, it was the second straight loss, coming after a 1-0 defeat in its home opener against Venezuela last week.
In other qualifiers, Chile downed Peru 2-0, Paraguay beat Uruguay 1-0, while Colombia and Bolivia settled for goalless draw.
Brazil and Paraguay now share second place in the qualifying standings with four points, behind Argentina on six. Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela have three points each, Colombia has two, Bolivia and Peru have one and Ecuador is yet to earn a point.
The top four teams advance to the World Cup, while the fifth placed finisher enters a playoff with the fourth-placed CONCACAF qualifier.
Brazil got on the board after 19 minutes when winger Maicon danced up the right side and sent a crossed pass over the goal mouth for striker Vagner Love to tap the ball home for a 1-0 lead.
Ronaldinho finally widened the score on a fluke play in the 71st minute when Kaka fired from long range and the Barcelona striker put his foot out and deflected the ball just out of the reach of Viteri for a 2-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Kaka sent a booming right-footer from 30 metres out into the upper corner to make it 3-0.
Robinho then pranced and feinted past de la Cruz on the right side and dropped the ball in the centre for Elano, who fired it home for a 4-0 lead.
Kaka rounded off the win with a weak long-range shot that Viteri bent over to stop but mishandled to allow the ball to roll in.
Ecuador's best chance came when Christian Benitez scrambled for the ball with Gilberto at the goal mouth, and the Brazilian midfielder carried the ball on his arm, but Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda ignored the apparent penalty.
Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion, is the only country to have qualified for every Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1930.
Brazil will play two more qualifying matches this year against Peru and Uruguay, both in November.
Matias Fernandez set up the first goal and scored one of his own to give Chile a home victory over Peru.
Humberto Suazo gave Chile the lead in the 11th minute, heading in a corner kick from Fernandez.
Fernandez sealed the win in the 51st, taking a ball from Arturo Vidal over the Peruvian defence and scored with a precise 3-metre, right-footed shot.
Chile was coming off a 2-0 loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, while Peru was held to a goalless draw at home by Paraguay.
Nelson Haedo Valdez scored in the 14th minute at Asuncion to give Paraguay a win over Uruguay.
Haedo Valdez, who plays for German side Borussia Dortmund, powered in a left-footer off a pass from Salvador Cabanas after catching Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano momentarily off guard.
Uruguay has not beaten Paraguay in Asuncion since a World Cup qualifier in 1957.
Uruguay is seeking to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after failing to reach Germany last year. The Uruguayans were eliminated on penalties in a dramatic playoff against Australia.
Colombia failed to capitalise on a man advantage for most of the second half and settled for a 0-0 draw against Bolivia at La Paz.
It was Colombia's second goalless draw in four days, while the result was a marked improvement for Bolivia after its 5-0 loss to Uruguay on Saturday.
© 2024 Rediff.com -