Paul Gough at Telstra Dome
Australia made light of its limited preparation to humiliate Qatar in its opening 2010 World Cup qualifier at Telstra Dome on Wednesday night as Dutchman Pim Verbeek's reign as Socceroos' coach got off to the perfect start.
It might not yet be a case of 'Guus who' but on this display Verbeek looks just as capable of emulating the feats of his more famous countrymen Guus Hiddink, who took Australia to the World Cup finals for the first time in 32 years in Germany in 2006.
In fact this match was more reminiscent of some of the lop-sided Oceania qualifiers Australia used to play before its move to the supposedly much-tougher Asian confederation as Qatar was put to the sword in front of just under 51,000 fans.
The Socceroos were 3-0 up by half-time, against a side that had conceded just one goal in its past three matches, and while that was also the final margin, the end result could have been even more lop-sided if not for some smart saves from the constantly under pressure Qatar keeper Mohammed Saqr.
And, while there is no doubt Australia's other Group A opponents in Asian Cup champions Iraq and China - in what had been labelled Asia's group of death considering it was the only group in the first phase of qualifying that contained four of Asia's top ten ranked teams - will be much tougher opposition; on this display the Socceroos will have nothing to fear.
In fact considering this performance came after Verbeek had just one training session with his full team in the lead-up, it begs the question of just how good the Socceroos will be when our latest "Dutch master" has had more time to work with the team.
There were plenty of fears ahead of this crucial opening game that Australia might struggle against a team that had been in training for five weeks and had the benefit of three recent friendlies under its belt.
In contrast, all of Australia's starting XI - with the exception of locally-based veteran Craig Moore - only arrived in Melbourne either two days or one day before the game due to club commitments in Europe.
But there were certainly no signs of jet lag as the Australians' impressive passing, movement off the ball, teamwork and superb crossing and finishing overwhelmed a side that looked every bit the 88th ranked team in the world - some 40 places behind Australia on FIFA's official rankings.
Verbeek picked the inexperienced front pairing of the giant Josh Kennedy and tiny Celtic striker and hometown boy Scott McDonald as Australia began life without veteran striker Mark Viduka, whose future international career remains unclear.
The pair had just nine caps and one goal between them coming into this match but those that were concerned that Australia might lack firepower against a side who had come to Melbourne with the intention of gaining a 0-0 draw were soon wondering just why they had been worried at all.
After the prolific Tim Cahill almost scored in the fifth minute, Kennedy opened the scoring with a powerful header - rising above two Qatar defenders - in the tenth minute from a pinpoint right-wing cross from Brett Emerton.
It was Kennedy's second goal in five appearances for the Socceroos and again showed why he had been considered Viduka's heir apparent since his surprisingly