If there was one thing that came out of Australia’s 3-1 victory over Qatar, it was Pim Verbeek’s self belief.

The Dutchman held firm while others around him questioned his tactics and his team.

Too defence minded. A distinct lack of goal scoring adventure. Likely to struggle in the Middle East heat.

The slights were long and distinguished.

True. He did move several players into more attacking midfield roles. The scorer of the game’s brace in Doha, Brett Emerton a case in point.

Indeed the Socceroos sudden flood of goals proved all the doubters wrong.

However the Dutchman put the 3-1 victory in perspective at his post match press conference regarding the fine line between expectations and international football reality.

“I think that the Australian media expects that we win every game 3 or 4 zero. I think they are not realistic. We did very well. We scored a lot of goals”, said Verbeek.

Well yes, that statement is true. But only if you include his side’s recent result. Up until then, Australia had only found the net once in its past three qualifiers.

That said, it was indeed a magnificent performance from the Socceroos, especially from Mark Schwarzer who repelled everything thrown at him.

In what could have been mistaken as the Sebastian Soria Quintana versus Schwarzer show, striker and keeper foiled against each other in the first half.

Headers, Shots on Goal. Schwarzer proved supreme.

As did Emerton, a rare brace ensuring Australia a 2-0 lead in the second half.

His first goal featured a hint of controversy following Harry’s fresh air swing.

Kewell himself said it was a dummy. It hardly mattered in the end. As his coach will tell you, “results” are all that matter.

That in itself is refreshing in an era where personal accountability is a dirty word.

When Kewell smashed home the third with a superb 75th minute volley in the bottom corner – the game was up.

Verbeek knew it. As did the Qatari fans. A sea of white rolling toward the exit gates.

As the Socceroos bus rolled out of Sadd stadium, one couldn’t help but wonder at the enormous satisfaction Verbeek must have had on his face after leading his team to the next AFC World Cup qualification phase.