Tim Cahill, so often Australia's talisman, marked his return to national colours for the first time in eight months with a superb strike to open the scoring early in the first half and lanky frontman Josh Kennedy got justified reward for his hard work when he converted a Luke Wilkshire cross to score with a 76th-minute header. The victory ensures Australia has an excellent platform, with six points from two games, five goals scored and none conceded, on which to build its qualifying campaign for a place in the 2010 finals in South Africa.

Not even a deluge of epic proportions and the half-hour delay it caused could dampen the Socceroos spirits as they cruised to a comfortable win. The elements abated sufficiently to persuade Saudi referee Kalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi that the game could kick off, although the Qataris, from a country where the rain hardly ever falls, might not have felt quite as comfortable about his decision. Within 17 minutes they found themselves two down, effectively out of the contest and wishing, no doubt, that the man with the whistle had opted to wait for another, drier day.

Australia got off to the perfect start with Cahill's superb ninth-minute strike. Cahill fitted back seamlessly into the side. As is so often the case, he was the right man in the right place to settle any Socceroo nerves.

"The tempo was high and we wanted to get out and really put them under pressure because complacency could have set in and given them a chance," Cahill said. Australia had monopolised possession on the sodden surface and had already set alarm bells ringing in the Qatar penalty area on a few occasions before Wilkshire, looking increasingly assured in the right-back role Verbeek has settled him in, combined with Emerton. Wilkshire took a return pass from the Blackburn Rovers utility and flighted a cross into the penalty area, which was first headed on by David Carney then touched wide by Kennedy into space where Cahill took one touch to control the ball and a second to lash home in the far corner, giving Qatar's stand-in goalkeeper Abdul Aziz no chance.

It was Cahill's 14th goal in 29 appearances for his country. "You have to finish things like that to win a game like this," Cahill said.

Australia doubled its advantage eight minutes later and again Cahill was a central figure in winning what, replays suggested, might have been a fortuitous penalty. Emerton's cross was delivered to the far post and as Cahill leapt acrobatically to try and volley, Qatar centre-back Abdullah Koni made contact with the Australian midfielder. Saudi referee Ibrahim Al Ghamdi deemed it sufficiently illegal to point to the spot. Emerton stepped forward and drove to his left: Aziz guessed the right way and got a hand to the ball but could only deflect it into his net. A two-goal cushion so early was exactly what Verbeek would have wanted and a nightmare start in his new job for recently hired Qatar coach Bruno Metsu.

Australia took plenty of confidence from its position and stroked the ball about in measured style, its fluent, first-touch play — with Jason Culina orchestrating from a deep-lying midfield position — frustrated the visitors and ensured it retained sufficient possession to take the sting out of any Qatar. Just 15 minutes after half-time Scott McDonald's break down the left side led to a pass to Kennedy in support and the lanky striker spied Emerton closing from midfield. The Socceroo veteran latched onto the pass from Kennedy and sent it across goal and into the left corner despite Aziz getting a touch on the ball.

With the sting out of the game it was Kennedy who added the final score in the 76th minute after a long and high Wilkshire ball into the box found the head of the boy from Yackandandah, who popped it over the oncoming Aziz and into the net.