Australia beats Qatar

MELBOURNE: 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 the three-goal lead with the brittle Qataris seemingly incapable of stemming a constant flow of attacks. Giant Karlsruhe striker Joshua Kennedy opened the scoring 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. “We played a fantastic first half. We did really well, we created chances, we scored great goals and we didn’t give them a chance to play football,â€‌ Verbeek said. “It was exactly what the plans were before the game and I am very proud of what they did, especially in the first half, quality was very high and they began to get tired in the second half which we expected they would.â€‌ 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 â€کGroup of Death,’ also containing Iraq and China. The result vindicated Dutchman Verbeek’s decision to focus on overseas-based players with a core of the 2006 World Cup squad, with defender Craig Moore and John Aloisi the only representatives of the domestic league. The Qataris, who arrived here over a week before the match, never recovered from their rocky start although they came close to scoring a couple of times in the second half as Australia tired from their long-haul flights from Europe. 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 a cross from Blackburn Rovers’ Brett Emerton was rammed home by German-based striker Kennedy. The 1.94-metre 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 lay-off. The Socceroos could have been leading by far more at half-time with goalkeeper Saqr saving goal-bound shots by Cahill and Kennedy twice. Carney, who plays for Sheffield United in the English championship, looked assured at left-back and passed with authority, while Dutch-based pair Wilkshire and Jason Culina bossed the midfield. Qatar coach Jorge Fossati made two changes at half-time, hauling off skipper Sattam al-Shammari and Mahdi Saddiq to show his rage at the limp performance. Substitute Mesaad al-Hamad 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. (AFP)