BUENOS AIRES, June 16: Wildly cheering fans streamed out of cafes onto Buenos Aires' streets on Friday after Argentina demolished Serbia and Montenegro 6-0 to emerge as instant World Cup favourites.

Taxis cruising the capital's streets for scant trade sounded their horns and fire-crackers echoed across the city each time a goal was scored.

“Now we have the comfort of knowing we've qualified. We're aware there's still a game left, which we mustn't lose, we cannot lose with the football Argentina's playing,” said Avelino Cariatti, a masseur, outside a downtown cafe.

Within minutes of the game ending, hundreds of fans thronged near the downtown Obelisk monument in Buenos Aires, a traditional gathering spot where fans celebrated when Argentina won the tournament in 1978 and 1986.

It was a sharp contrast with Argentina's disappointing first-round exit from the 2002 World Cup, which heightened despondency in a country then in the depths of an economic crisis.

As Argentina played, booking their place in the second round, downtown avenues in Buenos Aires were unusually clear of morning rush-hour traffic.

Cafes painted in the national colors of sky-blue and white were crowded with workers and students having extended breakfasts of coffee and croissants.

Schoolchildren across the country were cheering from the classroom after the education ministry granted special permission for viewing matches rather than face mass absences.

“It's better that they should miss 90 minutes than the whole day,” said a parent.—Reuters