Uruguay Move Up to Fifth Spot With Historic Win Over Paraguay

The Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay has been the site of many historic moments, most notably the site of the first ever World Cup final in 1930. On Wednesday evening, the stadium witnessed some more history as Uruguay held off Paraguay 1-0, marking the first time in 47 years that Uruguay has defeated Paraguay in World Cup Qualifying.

The lone goal was marked by Uruguayan captain, Paolo Montero, as the home crowd were whipped into a frenzy. The win moves Uruguay into fifth place in the qualifying race for Germany 2006 and breathed new life into a Uruguayan side that has played below par for the most part of this qualifying campaign. Uruguay will look to build on this result and secure a place in the top four guaranteeing them a spot in the 2006 World Cup.

URUGUAY 1-0 PARAGUAY (HT: 0-0)

Scorer: Montero 78

URUGUAY: 1-Sebastian Viera; 6-Diego Lopez, 2-Diego Lugano, 4-Paolo Montero, 3-Guillermo Rodriguez; 7-Gustavo Varela (13-Fabian Estoyanoff 58), 5-Pablo Garcia, 16-Javier Delgado, 10-Alvaro Recoba (22-Vicente Sanchez 61); 9-Dario Silva (18-Richard Morales 46), 19-Ernesto Chevanton

PARAGUAY: 1-Justo Villar; 21-Denis Caniza, 3-Julio Cesar Caceres, 4-Carlos Gamarra, 14-Paulo da Silva; 8-Edgar Barreto, 17-Angel Ortiz, 13-Carlos Paredes, 6-Mauro Monges (10-Diego Gavilan 82); 20-Jose Cardozo, 23-Nelson Cuevas (7-Cesar Ramirez 61)

Referee: Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil)

Booked: Carlos Humberto Paredes (P), Javier Delgado (U), Paolo Montero (U), Diego Lugano (U), Fredy Bareiro (P)