Well, there's not point repeating what's already been said. My opinion is over on Eamonn's blog, so go check it out there.

I had an excellent night at Telstra Dome, with hilarity of the security guard at the bag check and the St John's first aid people helping me out all before the match even kicked off setting an excellent tone for the night.

Throughout the day I was not all that excited. I was a bit worried - would the boys be able to come together and play as a team? How will Verbeek make them play? After all, the most recent kickabout the Socceroos had was behind closed doors, and the media reports weren't all that helpful. There was a lot of uncertainty, not necessarily doubt, but just a general fear of the unknown.

We needed to win last night - not just because we were the home team, but because it was our first match in the qualification run. At 1-0 I was still a little quiet. It was too early in the game, perhaps Qatar hadn't gotten into the swing of thing yet. At 2-0 I wasn't as nervous, but a lot of use know that 2-0 isn't that much of a lead. By the time it was 3-0 I had settled down, though it should have easily been 5-0 by that point. 3-0 was fine by me, we could settle down and steady the boat. After all, if Qatar got one back and obtained the momentum to get another (as happened in that upsetting 2-0 situation that not many of us are likely to forget) at least we still had a buffer.

In the end, it didn't matter. Those times when we were exposed in the second half, Qatar just couldn't finish it off. Can't wait until China.