SAN MIGUEL PETAPA, Guatemala - Central American qualifying for the finals of the 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship commenced Friday with an eventful day Estadio Julio Armando Cobar.

Honduras cruised to a convincing victory 5-2 over El Salvador, while host Guatemala could manage only a scoreless tie with a determined Nicaraguan side.

In the opening match, the Catrachos got off to a flying start in just the fifth minute, when midfielder Brayan Velasquez penetrated the left side of the Salvadoran defense and placed a shot past goalkeeper Cesar Jerez and into the back of the net.

El Salvador managed to settle in and soon equalized through midfielder Julio Amaya (23´), whose shot from distance rippled the back of the Honduran net.

Just when it looked as if the game would be even at the break, El Salvador committed a foul in the area led to a penalty. Devron Garcia converted the resulting spot kick to give the Catrachos a 2-1 halftime lead.

In the second half the Hondurans kicked their formidable attack into high gear, finding success in the 61st minute. High pressure forced an error from Jerez, who let the ball loose in front of his own net for Velasquez to tap home his second.

Five minutes later active Honduran forward Alberth Elis notched the fourth.

El Salvador once again cut the lead through captain Mario Jacobo's header (72´), before Jorge Bodden closed the scoring with a header of his own (82´).

"I think we played well, but we're just finding our feet," said Honduras head coach Jose Francisco Valladares. "El Salvador was a good rival. Hopefully we can come back on Sunday and put ourselves in a position to advance."

In the afternoon opener, host Guatemala pushed forward early and often, but failed to break an organized Nicaraguan defense. With impressive offensive efforts from Paolo Ortiz, Pablo Samayoa and Mario Hernandez, the Chapines came close on several occasions, hitting the post and the crossbar in the second half.

But given a strong showing from the visitors and goalkeeper Rendel Hodgson, the home side was unable to break through, leaving both teams in second place after one match day, behind the impressive Hondurans.

"It's an effort that will serve us well," Nicaraguan head coach Luis Londoño said. "They were strong in attack, but we held up. Now we look forward to the next round."

In the second round of matches on Sunday, Honduras takes on Costa Rica in the early game, while El Salvador will look to bounce back in the late match against host Guatemala.