Paulinho pulverizes Uruguay

SAO PAULO - Brazil was not intimidated by 60,000 raucous fans at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on Thursday, beating second-place Uruguay 4-1 in South America's World Cup qualifying group to retain the lead in the standings after 13 matches.

Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Paulinho scored a hat-trick, while Barcelona star Neymar added another goal to keep Brazil firmly on course for soccer's main event in Russia next year.

Brazil boasts a 100 percent record under coach Tite, who took over in September and on Thursday secured his seventh straight win in the South American qualifiers.