• Qatar 0-3 Australia (McGree 5, Yengi 32, Irankunda 40)

• Julen Lopetegui under pressure as Qatar head coach

It was a win almost as comfortable as the buildup had been turbulent, as the Socceroos placed the drama of a week dominated by talk of everything but the football to one side and cruised to a comprehensive 3-0 win over Qatar.

Pressing high, Australia’s men were ruthless in attack and dominant whenever their opponents even thought about getting forward, putting the result beyond doubt inside the opening 45 minutes. It took until the 38th for Qatar to register a touch in the Australia penalty area, and by that point they were down 2-0, with the third added for good measure just two minutes later. When Almoez Ali registered the reigning Asian champions’ first shot in the 72nd minute, Tony Popovic had emptied his bench, and the debutant Sam Klein hurled himself in front of the attempt before Patrick Beach had to worry about making a save.

Almost all the focus heading into Friday’s contest hadn’t centred on it at all but, instead, the Socceroos clash with Jordan next Tuesday; an announcement arrived on Thursday that the game had been moved to Doha following player resistance to travelling onward to Amman. But after being kept under wraps by Football Australia as those talks played out, speaking only in pre-recorded interviews distributed by the federation, Riley McGree’s first goal for the national team in over four years after just five minutes signalled that they were more than ready to let their football do the talking.

Perhaps the best way to describe the goal was predatory: the Middlesbrough attacker read the eyes of the Qatar keeper, Mahmud Abunada, as he was harangued by Tete Yengi, pouncing on his pass intended for Assim Madibo and passing the ball into the net. The hunting continued with the second, this time when a shanked clearance from Abunada in the 32nd minute allowed Connor Metcalfe to seize the ball and thread a perfectly weighted pass for Yengi to receive and deposit into the bottom corner.

By the time star player Nestory Irankunda fired the third beyond Abunada with five minutes remaining in the opening stanza, this time after a bounced pass from Ahmed Fathy had got away from Almoez Ali and been seized upon by Metcalfe, local Qatari media were opining about Julen Lopetegui’s sacking – asking just why he was having his side continue to play out from the back in the face of the Australia pressure.

If the two games against Brazil in September had shown signs that Australia was growing into a side able to do far more than batten down the hatches against the world’s best, Friday’s game offered hints of what they’re capable of becoming when the onus was on them. All three of their goals came from their press, demonstrating the type of ruthlessness that Popovic has said he wants to see more from his side as they mature and grow in confidence – going from a side full of promise to one recognised as being a dominant force in Asia.

Admittedly, Australia was helped in the contest by Qatar not being very good. Even with four debutants on the park to end the game, the Maroons failed to make Beach make a save all night – Ali’s 88th-minute disallowed goal was about a mile offside – with Lopetegui now potentially facing a make-or-break fixture against South Korea next Tuesday. Coming off the back of a disappointing Arab Cup and World Cup, and amid fears of stagnation, a meek loss against the Taegeuk Warriors, making it back-to-back home losses and clearly showing the two-time defending champions of the continent have slipped from Asia’s elite, could spell doom for his tenure.

But speculation about his own tenure mounting following the postponement of the Asian Cup, Popovic had chosen to start close to a full-strength XI for the contest, and if he was looking for signs that he should stick around for the ride, he would probably have been encouraged by what he saw. Beyond Klein, Eli Adams, Kasey Bos, and Diesel Herrington all made their debuts in the fixture, too.