Verbeek said that there were plenty of excuses for Australia to go out and put in an under-par performance in front of 40,000 fans at ANZ Stadium. He said his players were fatigued after their long trip back from Qatar and had to adapt to a new-look Socceroos side which featured eight changes from the previous match, but still played well enough to record their fifth win of the campaign.

"If you see the amount of new players we had to bring into the team today, if you consider the long trip back from Qatar over here, and we know we were qualified already, so we still had be mentally in the right shape and perform. I can only say, the only thing we didn't do was score more goals," Verbeek said.

Australia could have easily won the match more convincingly with Harry Kewell hitting the post and Scott McDonald missing two easy chances, but Verbeek wasn't too concerned given the nature of the game.

"We created enough chances, we had very good chances, and we were not very sharp in the final pass. But I think everybody can understand that given everything that has happen in the last three or four days.

"We win again, we scored two goals and we have zero goals against. I don't think we did that bad, I can only be pleased with my players," said Verbeek.

With first-choice players of the calibre of Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill and Vince Grella left out of the starting line-up, Verbeek was able to test out his depth, and he was pleased with what he saw, giving him plenty to think about over the next 12 months ahead of the World Cup.

"I think the boys who came in today showed themselves. All of them. It makes it much more easy for me. The more players we have available, the better it is for me, the Socceroos and Australian football.

"The squad is getting bigger and bigger and they are all committed to be part of this. It's good, it's great, I'm very pleased with the selection we have at the moment," said the Socceroos coach.

Bahrain coach Milan Macala was disappointed his team wasn't able to get the point it needed to seal a qualifying playoff spot, saying it did not create enough up forward to concern the Australians in the first half.

"We hoped we can take one point, because we have a World Cup dream. But to get that point we need more courage offensively, because we did not create opportunities. Tonight Australia created more opportunities and in the second half they took them," he said.

But Macala did take a big positive out of the match, saying that playing qualifying matches against Australia could only be good for the development of his team.

"For us, it's a fantastic opportunity to play against these sides, against Japan and Australia, because we have learned a lot playing against these teams."

As it falls, Bahrain must now secure a point in next Wednesday's home game against Uzbekistan to qualify for that third-placed spot. Bahrain is currently on seven points, while Uzbekistan is three behind. Qatar has completed its qualifying campaign with six points after a 1-1 draw against Japan in Yokohama.

"If we qualify it's a big success for a country like Bahrain," Macala said.