Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz was on the mark as Paraguay sauntered to a 5-1 victory over Ecuador in World Cup qualifying on Saturday.The game in Asuncion proved to be the last at the helm for Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez, who elected to stand down as a result of a miserable start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Paraguay needed just nine minutes to take the lead when from a corner Haedo Valdez headed in.

Ecuador struggled to contain Paraguay at set pieces all evening and it was from another corner that they doubled their lead, as Christian Riveros fired home.

Santa Cruz continued his excellent start to the season when he added a third six minutes into the second half, outpacing the visiting defence before smashing the ball home. The big striker was then substituted on 74 minutes, with Wednesday's clash with Chile in mind.

Ivan Kaviedes scored the scantest of consolations 10 minutes from time as Nestor Ayala compounded Ecuador's woes when he struck just minutes later, leaving Riveros to net his second in the game's dying embers to put the gloss on a polished display.

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