Australia cooly dispatched a large uncompetitive Palestine side 3-0 in their second Group B match and now face Syria in an unlikely do-or-die contest, although not an entirely foreign one to the Socceroos.

After missing a worryingly simple opportunity in the game's opening minutes, Jamie Maclaren broke his international duck 17 matches short of Scott McDonald's unwanted striking record, with the 25-year-old insistent that his goal "has been a long time coming". 

Awer Mabil then continued his phenomenal recent form for club and country by sealing the result minutes later, while Apostolos Giannou - at the present time Maclaren's major threat for a starting forward position - nicked a resounding third from close range.

The most raptures fell to Chris Ikonomidis, the 23-year-old's "man of the match" performance the brightest spark among an overall redeeming performance for the national side.