Kennedy had only just come onto the field when he connected with Mark Bresciano's cross to beat the keeper at the near post and send 57,292 fans into a frenzy after 66 minutes.

The crowd was celebrating again seven minutes later when Kewell's penalty sealed a comfortable but hard-fought victory.

The Socceroos' place at the 2010 finals may be confirmed in the early hours of Thursday morning if Bahrain and Qatar play out a draw in Manama late on Wednesday night.

The heavy rain which fell just before kick-off left the pitch spongy but the Socceroos attempted to move the ball early against the Uzbeks.

Striker Scott McDonald, yet to open his account at international level, found himself in space after just four minutes but couldn't get the ball from under his feet to fire in a purposeful shot.

The Australians were fortunate not to find themselves a goal down minutes later after being caught square at the back.

To the relief of the home side, in-form striker Farhod Tadjiyev, who scored a hat-trick against Qatar in his last outing, fired wide past Mark Schwarzer's right post.

The Uzbeks were granted an even greater let-off in the 15th minute, Mark Bresciano set free by a clever McDonald pass but hitting his shot from the six-yard box directly at goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov.

The first yellow card of the game was brandished in the 24th minute after Sakhob Jurayev chopped down Richard Garcia.

Jason Culina tried his luck from range 35 minutes in, finding the target but not garnering enough power to worry the keeper.

Luke Wilkshire entered the referee's book just before half-time following a rash tackle on Jurayev.

As a result of the booking, Wilkshire will serve a one-match suspension and miss Australia's next qualifying match against Qatar in June.

Australia began the second half with a lot more fluency, urgency and purpose.

The hosts enjoyed their best period of the match as the travel-weary visitors started to wilt.

Culina's goal-bound strike was superbly punched over the bar by Nesterov on the hour before Michael Beauchamp at the near post headed wide a minute later.

Coach Pim Verbeek made a crucial change after 60 minutes, introducing Kennedy for McDonald to almost immediate effect.

Kennedy had to reach back to meet Bresciano's whipped-in cross but still managed to send his header past Nesterov at the near post.

It was the rangy striker's sixth goal in 12 appearances for Australia.

Richard Garcia earned Australia a penalty in the 71st minute after he was collected in the box by Hayrulla Karimov.

Kewell made no mistake from the spot, slipping the ball under the keeper's body after hitting his shot low to the right.

The Socceroos survived a late scare, Anvarjon Soliev ruled offside after finding the back of the net in the dying minutes.

After waiting 32 years between World Cup appearances, Australia is now on the verge of consecutive finals appearances.