Montevideo, October 13:

Brazil and Argentina put the mediocrity of recent World Cup qualifying performances behind them this weekend with respective wins that has left them second and third respectively.

Brazil’s 4-0 rout of Venezuela, however, was all the more impressive given what they are alleged to have endured from the moment they touched down on Venezuelan soil.

According to team manager Dunga and the Brazilian football federation (CBF), the five-time world champions’ trip to San Cristobal was taut from the word go. In an official statement, Dunga complained his team were delayed on the tarmac as soon as the plane touched down, and then he claimed the staff at their hotel took part in a ditry tricks campaign.

Adding to Brazil’s list of complaints was the allegation that several top players suffered vomiting before, during and after the match.

First we spent an hour and a half waiting to get off the plane, then during the night some of the hotel staff did their best, by driving cars and motorbikes around the hotel, to make sure we got as little sleep as possible.” Even worse, according to the CBF, was the fact that several

top players succumbed to vomiting.

Kaka was on target after just five minutes. Robinho struck twice while Adriano netted one.

Argentina coach Alfio Basile hit out at the match referee during his side’s 2-1 victory over Uruguay. “What I take most from this match is that we deserved the win,” said Basile. “But some of the tackles against us were brutal and the referee did nothing, while at the same time he was quick to rule against us if we made the slightest error,” he claimed.

Paraguay top the group after maintaing their form with a 1-0 win in Colombia after Salvador Cabanas’s ninth minute goal.