Qantas Socceroos win opener

The Qantas Socceroos have got their World Cup qualification campaign underway on a positive note, securing a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Thailand thanks to a late winner from Alex Brosque.

The Qantas Socceroos have got their World Cup qualification campaign underway on a positive note, securing a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Thailand thanks to a late winner from Alex Brosque.

The Qantas Socceroos dominated ball possession and had a constant flow of opportunities, but the injury-depleted War Elephants defended staunchly and held a lead from the time Teerasil Dangda scored in the 15th to the time Josh Kennedy equalised in the 58th.

The Thais looked certain to hold on for hard-fought draw, but Australia snatched the victory when Brosque poked the ball into the back of the net after Josh Kennedy brought down a cross from Matt McKay.

After showing so much promise in their recent 2-1 win over Wales, Australia's follow-up performance against the world No.120 did not meet expectations.

For Thailand, stand-in keeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool had a commendable performance between the sticks, limiting the damage to just two goals despite facing more than 50 penalty-area entries.

Australia's marquee goal-scorer Tim Cahill was involved in plenty of goal-front action, and racked up the shots on target, but he was let down by his last-touch execution.

The Qantas Socceroos, installed as massive favourites with the bookies, began as most would have expected, controlling possession and working patiently for aerial opportunities from in-swinging crosses.

Hathairattanakool was called on to make a series of handles in the opening 10 minutes, but the home side failed to inject venom into any of their early attempts.

While Australia were dominating possession and field position, the War Elephants were first on the board, scoring from an ambitious counterattack at the quarter-hour mark.

Neill Kilkenny had his pass intercepted in Australia's attacking half and the visitors went breaking away, pushing wide to Jakkaphan Kewprom, who played the perfect cross for Dangda to volley past Schwarzer.

Brett Holman had Australia's best chance of the first half in the 23rd minute, but after finding space in the area, his shot lacked the force to beat the diving Thailand stopper.

Valeri was the first to be shown a card, earning a yellow in the 35th minute.

The Qantas Socceroos returned from the major interval still dominating the possession count, and after Kennedy missed his first opportunity, he made amends with his second.

Kilkenny played McKay in for a shot from the edge of the area and when Hathairattanakool failed to control the powerful, left-foot strike, Kennedy was on hand to tap in the rebound.

Cahill looked to have finally forced his way into the scorers' book in the 62nd minute, but he was ruled to have fouled the opposition keeper in his leap to head the ball, and was replaced with Robbie Kruse shortly after.

Australia attacked to the final whistle and their luck seemed to arrive with Brosque, whose game-winner came just seven minutes after he was substituted on for Brett Emerton.

Australia: 2 (Kennedy 58, Brosque 86) Thailand: 1 (Dangda 10)

Crowd: 24,540 at Suncorp Stadium