LONDON (AP):SPAIN, THE Czech Republic, Switzerland and Uruguay each took a positive step toward qualifying for next year's World Cup finals by winning their play-off matches yesterday.
In Port of Spain,Trinidad and Tobago fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with Bahrain.
Spain, who haven't lost any of their 17 games under coach Luis Aragones, were the biggest winners, getting three goals from Luis Garcia in a 5-1 rout of Slovakia.
Vladimir Smicer scored the lone goal in the Czech Republic's 1-0 victory over Norway, while the Swiss topped 2002 semi-finalists Turkey 2-0 and Uruguay edged Australia 1-0.
Fernando Torres also scored for Spain at the Vicente Calderon stadium by converting a penalty, and substitute Fernando Morientes added the fifth goal.
Spain are trying to qualify for the World Cup finals for the eighth straight time.
Slovakia, who are trying to get there for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia, finished the match with 10 men after Marian Had was sent off for protesting. Slovakia coach Dusan Galis was also red carded.
Smicer, left unmarked in front of the goal, beat Norway goalkeeper Thomas Myhre from eight metres (yards) in the 32nd minute. Karel Poborsky set up the goal with a cross from the right at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo, Norway.
The Czechs have never qualified for the World Cup finals, but Czechoslovakia reached the quarter-finals in 1990 - three years before it split from Slovakia.
"We came here to try to win or at least score and we managed to fulfill both," Smicer said. "Now we have to take a rest and prepare for the second leg."
Philippe Senderos and Valon Behrami scored a goal each for Switzerland.
Senderos scored first with a glancing header off a free kick from Ludovic Magnin in the 40th minute, and Behrami added the insurance in the 86th at Stade de Suisse.
The Swiss last played in the World Cup finals in 1994. Turkey reached the semi-finals three years ago in South Korea and Japan.
Dario Rodriguez scored the lone goal for two-time World Cup champion Uruguay in the 35th minute.
Four years ago, Australia won 1-0 at home in the first leg but lost 3-0 in Uruguay.
The second legs are scheduled for Wednesday, with the winners claiming the five remaining berths for next year's World Cup finals in Germany.
The 27 teams already qualified for the World Cup are: Croatia, France, England, Germany (host), Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia-Montenegro, Sweden, Ukraine from Europe; Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay from South America; Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Tunisia from Africa; Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea from Asia; and Costa Rica, Mexico, United States from CONCACAF.
