Australia blazed past Qatar 3-0 yesterday in a rip-roaring start for coach Pim Verbeek as they bid to qualify for the World Cup via Asia for the first time.
The Socceroos did the damage in the first half, steaming to a 3-0 lead with the Qataris seemingly incapable of stemming a constant flow of attacks.
Karlsruhe striker Joshua Kennedy scored the first goal on 11 minutes and Everton midfielder Tim Cahill and Palermo attacker Mark Bresciano gave the Australians a comfortable buffer before they coasted through the second half.
Roared on by 51,000 home fans, Australia could have won by more with only goalkeeper Mohammed Saqr preventing further damage in the first match of Asia's "Group of Death," also containing Iraq and China.
The result vindicated Dutchman Verbeek's decision to focus on overseas-based players, with defender Craig Moore and John Aloisi the only representatives of the domestic league.
Moore was rock-solid in his final international match and was brought off with 12 minutes left to a huge ovation.
The Qataris, who arrived a fortnight before the match, never recovered from their rocky start although they came close to scoring a couple of times in the second half.
But the Australians gave themselves a strong platform in their mission to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.
The Socceroos began confidently and went ahead when Brett Emerton's cross from the right was headed in by German-based striker Kennedy.
The 1.94m forward posed awkward aerial problems with Emerton and David Carney feeding him crosses from both wings before he came off with a foot injury in the second half.
The home team doubled their lead seven minutes later when Luke Wilkshire's corner was headed home by Cahill, who out-jumped Junior Amaral for his 13th international goal.
Australia were three-up in the 33rd minute when Bresciano sweetly volleyed home Celtic striker Scott McDonald's precision ball.
The Socceroos could have been leading by far more at halftime with goalkeeper Saqr saving goal-bound shots by Cahill and Kennedy twice.
It was virtually one-way traffic in the first half with the Qataris' loose marking given Australia's midfield freedom to move the ball, which rarely came to home 'keeper Mark Schwarzer.
Carney looked assured at left-back, while Wilkshire and Jason Culina bossed the midfield.
Qatar coach Jorge Fossati made two changes at halftime, hauling off skipper Alshammari Sattam and Mahdi Saddiq to show his dissatisfaction at the limp performance.
But the Australians kept on coming with Wilkshire having a fierce long-range volley fumbled for a corner by Saqr and a Cahill header just wide in the opening minutes of the second half.
Substitute Alhamad Mesaad had Qatar's best chance in the 58th minute but he side-footed past the left upright with the goal begging, while Yahya Ali Hassan had a shot saved by Schwarzer on the hour.
■JAPAN V THAILAND
AFP, SAITAMA, JAPAN
Japan easily overwhelmed 10-man Thailand 4-1 yesterday in the perfect start to their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Asia's top-ranked team were held 1-1 in the first half but conjured three goals after the break in snowy conditions at Saitama stadium.
"I thought it would make it easier when we took the first goal, but we lost a goal soon after. It was really tough," Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.
Japan went ahead through a Yasuhito Endo free-kick on 21 minutes, only for Narongchai Vachiraban to equalise with a sizzling shot just a minute later.
The home team had to wait for more than half-an-hour before Yoshito Okubo pounced on a deflected clearance to restore their lead on 54 minutes.
Thailand's hopes of a recovery looked bleak when Narongchai received his second yellow card for pulling down Yuji Nakazawa.
And Nakazawa leaped to head home a free-kick on 66 minutes to stretch Japan's advantage to 3-1, before substitute forward Seiichiro Maki completed the scoring in injury time.
■ SOUTH KOREA V TKM
AP, SEOUL
Park Ji-sung's first goal for his country since the 2006 World Cup and two from Seol Ki-hyeon helped South Korea stroll to a comfortable 4-0 win over Turkmenistan in their opening 2010 World Cup qualifier yesterday.
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