SANTIAGO, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Nicolas Guerra scored three first-half goals as Chile cruised to a 6-1 home win over Panama in a one-sided friendly here on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Universidad de Chile forward netted either side of Ariel Uribe's strike, as the host raced to a 3-0 lead.

Cecilio Waterman reduced the deficit from the penalty spot before Guerra completed his hat-trick on the stroke of halftime.

Lucas Cepeda and Steffan Pino added second-half goals, as the Roja completed an emphatic victory at Estadio Nacional.

"The players should be congratulated because it was an important demonstration of what we're capable of doing," Chile manager Ricardo Gareca said after the match. "The players were fully committed. We saw that was going to happen by the attitude they showed in training. Having said that, it's not normal to score six goals in a match."

The result served as a confidence boost for Chile ahead of the team's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Ecuador next month.

The Roja is currently ninth in the 10-team South American qualifying group with just two wins from 12 outings. Gareca admitted his team could not afford to drop more points as it seeks to qualify for football's showpiece tournament for the first time since 2014.

"I have faith that we can start to get back on track and pick up the points we need to fight for a [World Cup] place," the Argentine said.

Panama's next fixture will be a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal duel with the United States on March 20. Enditem

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