Lucas Neill's Australia are on the brink of qualifying for their second consecutive FIFA World Cup finals after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 in Sydney.
The West Ham United captain led the Socceroos to a comfortable victory over the Uzbeks at Stadium Australia, with the home side securing their success through second half goals from Karlsruher SC striker Joshua Kennedy and Galatasaray forward Harry Kewell.
After a goalless first half, Kennedy broke the deadlock on 66 minutes with a powerful header from Marco Bresciano's cross before former Liverpool man Kewell doubled the hosts' advantage from the penalty spot seven minutes later.
Pim Verbeek's side have now won four and drawn one of their five Asian qualifying round four matches without conceding a single goal and are two points ahead of nearest rivals Japan. They are six points clear of Bahrain and a further three in front of Uzbekistan and Qatar with three matches remaining.
Neill earned his 48th cap for his country in his home city in front of a crowd of 57,292. The only blemish to what was a fine morning for the Australia skipper was the yellow card he received five minutes after half-time.