October 15, 2008 12:00am

SOCCEROOS 4 QATAR 0


TIM Cahill and Brett Emerton wielded the sticks as the Socceroos handed out another beating to Qatar to power to the top of their World Cup qualifying group with a win.

Cahill, making his return to the national team after a series of injuries, tormented Qatar mercilessly in a brilliant display while Emerton scored twice. Cahill scored the opener on nine minutes with a sweet left-foot finish from a sweeping Socceroos move.

The Everton midfielder then won a penalty eight minutes later after Qatar defender Abdulla Koni was adjudged to have pushed him, allowing Emerton to bang home from the penalty spot.

The Socceroos effectively put the match beyond doubt just inside the hour, when Emerton netted his second after great lead-up work from Scott McDonald and Josh Kennedy, whose aerial prowess troubled the Qataris all night.

Kennedy then completed a miserable night for Qatar as he grabbed Australia's fourth with 14 minutes remaining, leaping to meet a Luke Wilkshire cross and head home.

It was Australia's third win over Qatar in World Cup qualifying - the Socceroos posting 3-0 and 3-1 wins in the previous qualification stage and proving far too polished and poised once more tonight.

The Socceroos now have a perfect two-from-two record in this stage to lead Group A - tonight's win following an impressive away victory in Uzbekistan last month. The top two teams in Group A earn direct qualification to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.

The kick-off for tonight's match was delayed by half an hour because of wild thunderstorms and torrential rain which flooded parts of the pitch. But the field dried up remarkably well considering the amount of rain that fell.

Craig Moore made his comeback from a short-lived retirement alongside Lucas Neill in central defence, and the pair combined brilliantly to lock up Qatar's main attacking threat Sebastian Soria Quintana.



Fulltime
AUSTRALIA 4 (Tim Cahill 9m, Brett Emerton 17m pen, 59m, Josh Kennedy 76m) bt QATAR 0 at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Saad Al-Fadhli.


Teams:

Australia: Mark Schwarzer, Luke Wilkshire, Lucas Neill (capt), Craig Moore, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Tim Cahill, David Carney, Josh Kennedy, Scott McDonald.
Qatar: Abdulaziz Ali, Ibrahim Majid, Majdi Siddiq, Abdulla Koni, Saad Al-Shammari, Fabio Cesar, Magid Mohamed, Khalfan Ibrahim, Mustafa Mohamed, Talal Al-Bloushi, Sebastian Soria Quintana.