Veteran striker Romario, who hit a hat-trick last month on his first international outing in over two years, scored another four goals as Brazil thrashed Venezuela 6-0 away in a World Cup qualifier.

Romario hit a first-half hattrick in eight minutes in Maracaibo, then completed Brazil's scoring with another goal midway through the second half.

Brazil, due to name a new coach this week, were playing under interim coach Candinho, Wanderly Luxemburgo having been sacked last week following a dismal two-year reign. Debutant Euller and midfielder Juninho Paulista scored Brazil's first two goals.

Argentina beat arch-rivals Uruguay 2-1, while Ecuador kept up their hopes of a first-ever World Cup appearance by winning a pulsating encounter against Chile in Quito.

Peru continued to struggle despite replacing coach Francisco Maturana with Julio Cesar Uribe last month as they lost 1-0 to lowly Bolivia in La Paz.

The weekend's games, which began Saturday with Paraguay overcoming Colombia 2-0 in Bogota, brought the South American campaign to the halfway mark. The 10 countries play each other twice, with the top four qualifying for Japan and South Korea and the fifth playing off against the winners of the Oceania group.

Argentina are clear leaders with 22 points from five games, followed by Brazil and Paraguay, who have 17 each.