Uruguay took a giant step towards Brazil with a comfortable win over Middle Eastern minnows Jordan in their World Cup qualification play-off.

Maxi Pereira and Christian Stuani got the South Americans up and running in the first half before goals from Nicolas Lodeiro, Cristian Rodriguez and a late stunner from Edinson Cavani made next week’s second leg in Montevideo a mere formality.

The win was overshadowed somewhat by a shocking attempt to win a penalty by Luis Suarez in the first half as the Liverpool striker fell theatrically in the box.

Stuani provided the right wing cross for the opener and the wideman scored himself 20 minutes later when he sneaked in behind Odai Al-Saify at the back post to prod home Lodeiro’s chipped pass to double the lead.

A spirited but outclassed Jordan enjoyed a good spell at the start of the second period but Lodeiro then added a third in the 70th minute to crush any faint hopes the hosts may have had with Rodriguez smashing home a fourth eight minutes later.

The winger latched on to the end of a cross from the left to half-volley into the near post. It was all over at that point but there was still time to add further gloss to the result.

Cavani, who also helped set up Lodeiro’s goal, capped a brilliant night for the visitors with a sparkling free-kick in stoppage time to complete the rout.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker sent the deadball goalwards with dip, curl and sideways movement to leave Shatnawi no chance in the home goal.

‘This result will put us in a good position for the second leg,’ Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. ‘We will play with the same formation to honor the Uruguayan fans who will fill the stadium next Wednesday, as I heard that 60,000 tickets were sold.’

The Jordanians have never reached the World Cup and struggled on to compete against a Uruguay side who were semi-finalists at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The defeat followed extensive preparations in Jordan for the game. The king donated £312,000 toward the cost of the team’s preparations, while Jordan Television held a one-day telethon that raised £1,750,000.

The fever also spread to the UAE where Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya offered a private plane to fly the Jordan team to Uruguay for the second leg.

Security was tightened for the match in Amman and tickets for the match were sold at five times their face value on the black market. Jordan’s Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan said he was ‘fully responsible for this result’ and ‘satisfied with the performance of my players.’ ‘I wished the Jordanian fans had seen their team win, but this is what happened,’ Hassan added.

—Daily Mail