Brazil, Paraguay win on road to South Africa 2010

At Rio de Janeiro's legendary Maracana stadium, where the national team was playing for the first time in seven years, Vagner Love put Brazil ahead in the 19th minute before some 80,000 spectators.

 Ronaldinho made it 2-0 as he cleverly deflected a long-distance effort by Kaka in the 72nd minute. Kaka himself scored a great goal five minutes later with another long shot that slipped just under the crossbar.

 In the 82nd minute, Elano put the ball away efficiently after a beautiful dribbling effort by Robinho on the left, and one minute later Kaka again scored from a distance, though this time with a poor shot that Ecuadorian goalie Daniel Viteri shockingly failed to contain.

 Before their 20-minute scoring barrage in the second half, Brazilian coach Carlos Dunga and his players were even booed by the fans. However, with the resounding triumph, Kaka, Ronaldinho and company made amends for a lacklustre, goalless draw Sunday in Colombia. Ecuador, which qualified for the last two World Cups, already lost 1- 0 to Venezuela in Quito in a first-round upset.

 "The logic of qualifiers is complex. We have very difficult games. We will suffer a lot, still. The most important thing is the will and the pleasure that players get from being with the Brazilian national team," Dunga said after the game.

 At the renovated Maracana, the so-called temple of football and one of the world's largest stadiums, Ecuador could have been luckier with the score had the referee seen a clear penalty in the Brazilian box in the 41st minute, when Gilberto handled the ball.

 Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar got to show off his skills to deflect a free kick from Segundo Castillo in the 57th minute, and two minutes later to prevent Cristian Benitez from scoring. From then on the game was all Brazil's.

 "I did not see Ecuador as a fragile team. On the contrary, it is a very good team that made the match very difficult for Brazil," Dunga said. "The goals happened because of Brazil's ability and aptitude, never because of deficiencies by the rival."

   Kaka, however, did not quite agree. He was confused by the second goal in his personal count, Brazil's fifth.

 "I don't really know what happened with that goal," he said. "After the shot I turned my back on the goal because I knew I had not hit the ball well. And then I heard the fans shout and saw Ronaldinho and Robinho coming to hug me."

   Earlier Wednesday, Chile beat Peru 2-0 before 60,000 fans at Santiago's National Stadium. Humberto Suazo struck a header in the 11th minute, and the talented Matias Fernandez - who controlled the Chilean attack and the pace of the game - made it 2-0 in the 51st minute.

 The victory puts the Chilean side coached by Marcelo Bielsa back in the race, after a 2-0 weekend loss to Argentina in Buenos Aires, while Peru remains unable to win and added Wednesday's defeat to a goalless home draw against Paraguay.

 "The match was ours," Bielsa said.

 He called the result "fair" and "convincing."

   Paraguay defeated Uruguay 1-0 in Asuncion with a 14th-minute goal by Nelson Haedo Valdez. Uruguay had notched the widest margin of victory in the first round, 5-0 at home against lowly Bolivia.

 "Paraguay played a lot better than Uruguay and, as against Peru, deserved to win by a wider margin," Haedo Valdez noted.

 Earlier Wednesday, Colombia obtained a valuable point from a goalless draw against Bolivia in the high altitude of La Paz.

 The Colombian side could have won the game had its forwards been more precise, but Bolivia also had several chances and allowed the rival goalkeeper to shine, particularly in the first half.

 With Bolivian President Evo Morales - an avid football fan - watching from the stands, Bolivian midfielder Leonel Reyes was sent off in the 67th minute for a second bookable offence.

 On Tuesday, Argentina kept up its confident pace on the way to South Africa with a 2-0 win against Venezuela in Maracaibo.

 Centre-back Gabriel Milito opened the score with a header in the 15th minute, and striker Lionel Messi added a second goal with a powerful left-foot shot three minutes before halftime.

 Over the weekend, two-time world champion Argentina started its march to South Africa with a 2-0 win over Chile, while Venezuela - the traditional weakling of South American football - scored a surprising 1-0 victory at Ecuador.

 Argentina was the only side to win both games after two rounds of qualifying matches.

 In the South American World Cup qualifiers, each of the 10 teams involved play all the others at home and away. The top four finishers win a place in the World Cup, with the fifth-place team facing a representative of the North, Central American and Caribbean region in a playoff.