It was a storybook moment for Jordan, against Uruguay with a World Cup berth on the line, but it would not be as the South American side torched the Jordinians 5-0 from Amman Stadium in Jordan.
Uruguay used five different goalscorers to outclass the home side and set themselves up with a lead that will be nearly impossible for the Asian team to overcome.
The Jordinians held off Uruguay for 22 minutes before they finally conceded with Maxi Pereira tucking in the opener. That opened the floodgates.
The home side again fought hard for another 20 minutes, but some fantastic passing unlocked their defense a second time, with Cristian Stuani finishing cooly on the far post.
Nicolas Lodeiro after Jordan botched a chance to pull one back through Ahmad Hayel, and ridiculous goals by Cristian Rodriguez and Edinson Cavani put it out of sight.
The result is no doubt a blow to Sepp Blatter’s idea to replace European and South American World Cup berths with Asian and African ones, as the difference between the middle-of-the-table sides in each is clear.
Here is Cavani’s goal to make it 5-0 in added time, an absolute peach of a free-kick from corner to far corner where the Mohammed Shatnawi didn’t even move: