MONTEVIDEO: Uruguay sealed their spot at the 2014 World Cup finals after a goalless draw at home to Jordan in the second leg of their intercontinental playoff on Wednesday saw them advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Uruguay, the last of the 32 teams to book their place at the finals in Brazil, had all but secured their berth with a crushing 5-0 victory in the first leg in Amman last week.
Despite needing to score at least five to have any hope of overturning the deficit, Jordan defended deep and in numbers on Wednesday, denying the South Americans scoring chances.
The closest the home side came to scoring was when centre back Diego Godin headed against the bar just before halftime, but the lack of goals failed to dampen celebrations on the pitch or among the crowd of 60,000 in the stands.
Before kickoff, the crowd were treated to a video of Alcides Ghiggia's winning goal when Uruguay upset Brazil 2-1 at the Maracana to win their second World Cup in 1950, the last time their northern neighbours hosted the finals.
The 86-year-old, that team's sole survivor, also spoke to the crowd ahead of the game.
"At the Maracana (final) there were 30 Uruguayans," he said in the centre circle. "Today I have the luck to celebrate with all these people here and it's very emotional for me."
Jordan's packed defence gave 2010 semi-finalists Uruguay few openings.
Edinson Cavani, who scored a sublime free kick in the first leg, had two efforts that went over the bar while Luis Suarez worked tirelessly to find openings but often found himself forced out wide.
Uruguay captain Diego Lugano headed a corner wide of the far post just past the hour and Jordan took heart from the scoreless first half and were more daring after the break.
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