BRISBANE, Australia, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Blackburn Rovers midfielder Brett Emerton scored twice to help Australia thrash Qatar 4-0 on Wednesday and move to the top of their Asian World Cup qualifying group.

Emerton converted a penalty in the first half and scored

midway through the second as the Socceroos completely

overwhelmed a lacklustre Qatari outfit.

Australia's other goals came from Everton's Tim Cahill, who

notched his 14th international goal in just 29 appearances, and

the towering Josh Kennedy with a 76th minute header.

With Japan and Uzbekistan playing out a 1-1 draw in Saitama

on Wednesday, Australia are two points clear at the top of Group

One.

Japan and Qatar both have four points although the Middle

East side has played one more match then the two leading

contenders in the group.

The top two teams from both Asian groups qualify directly

for the 2010 finals in South Africa, with the third placed teams

to meet each other to determine who enters a play-off with

Oceania champions New Zealand.

Australian coach Pim Verbeek said he could not ask for more.

"We've had two games, got six points, scored five goals and

had no goals against," he said.

Verbeek said the Australians had played the almost perfect

game.

"I think we did well. We controlled, we waited for the right

moment to use the strikers, and they did great," he said.

Qatar had opened their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 win

over Uzbekistan and a 1-1 draw with Bahrain, but they never

looked like matching the more powerful and committed Socceroos.

The match was delayed by 30 minutes after an electrical

storm and tropical downpour swept across Brisbane an hour before

kickoff, sending the players scurrying from the field during

their warm-ups.

However, once the match got underway the Australians

dominated the match.

Cahill opened the scoring after only nine minutes and

Emerton put them further ahead when Saudi referee Khalil Ibrahim

Algahmbi ruled that Qatari defender Abdulla Koni had fouled

Cahill in the box.

Emerton then finished off some good lead-up work from Celtic

striker Scott McDonald and Kennedy after 76 minutes, before the

1.92 metre tall Kennedy completed the rout when he headed over

the top of keeper Abdulaziz Ali Abdulla.