Uruguay and Mexico, as expected, pretty much sealed their places in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with comfortable first-leg victories over Jordan and New Zealand.
Edinson Cavani was the main man for Uruguay, scoring a brilliant goal off a freekick while also playing a major part in two others as the South Americans ran out 5-0 winners in Amman.
Maximiliano Pereira kicked things off for Uruguay in the first half, before Cristian Stuani made it 2-0. Jordan were better in the second 45, but Uruguay's firepower just proved to be too much, despite not being at their best, as further goals from Nicolas Lodeiro, Cristiano Rodriguez and Cavani as good as ended the tie as a contest.
"There are countless ways of winning in football. Today [Wednesday] we didn't play well but we were very good in finishing," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez told reporters.
"Generally we play better, it's unusual what we saw of Uruguay [against Jordan]."
The second leg on Wednesday in Montevideo now looks academic, with Tabarez having the option of resting the likes of Cavani and Luis Suarez.
Jordan coach Hossam Hassan, who prior to the game had said his side would go into the game without any fear, admitted the superior experience of Uruguay counted in the end.
"Our players were heroes during the previous qualifying matches but Uruguay have now put a leg in the World Cup finals," Salah Sabra, vice president of the Jordan Football Association, added to Reuters.
"We played very good football in the first 20 minutes of the game and we matched the stars of Uruguay and the result would be different if we exploited two chances we created."
In Mexico City, it was equally comfortable for the Mexicans, who topped New Zealand 5-1. The goals for the home side came from Paul Aguilar, Raul Jimenez, Oribe Peralta (2) and Rafael Marquez. Chris James netted an equaliser for the Kiwis late in the game, who will now have the most massive of mountains to climb in the return leg next week.
"We're going to go there like the score is 0-0, like we need a winning goal," Mexico coach Miguel Herrera said.
