Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek praised stalwarts Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Craig Moore for a key pre-match talk before tonight's 4-0 drubbing of Qatar.
Both teams were forced from Suncorp Stadium midway through their respective warm-ups due to an electrical storm which pounded the ground.
While the nervous Qataris hoped the World Cup qualifier would be postponed or called off, Australia's senior trio laid down the law to their troops.
Verbeek said captain Neill, goalkeeper Schwarzer and recalled defender Moore hit the mark with their words to embrace a direct attacking game from the outset.
His compliments to his "leaders" were followed by more wraps to the Brisbane ground staff who had the pitch playable after a 30-minute delay.
"The boys did a fantastic job, especially after a difficult start because the rain came down when we were warming up," he said.
"I think the pitch helped us because we can play good football on a field like this.
"The way we played and controlled the game was fantastic."
Moore said the stadium's surface drained so well that it was normal after 20 minutes of play.
Back for his first cap after coming out of international retirement this month, the Queensland skipper told his teammates what to expect after experiencing a similar downfall before an A-League semi-final against Sydney FC last year.
"That was a test mentally for the boys," Moore said of the deluge.
"We were very fortunate that we have a mentally strong group and we always thought that that would possibly work against Qatar.
"That they would think 'what's happening' and we knew if we started the game in a positive fashion we could get the result that we did."
The Socceroos answered the call to arms, scoring through Tim Cahill after just nine minutes to bring the 34,230 strong Brisbane crowd to its collective feet.
Luke Wilkshire and Emerton combined nicely before David Carney headed across the goalface to Josh Kennedy who also headed on to an unmarked Cahill who duly converted.
Cahill was again in the thick of the action seven minutes later as defender Abdulla Koni collected him in mid-air as he attempted a volleyed shot from close-range.
The Saudi Arabian referee pointed to the penalty spot and Emerton, the Socceroos most-capped player, slipped the shot through the hands of the diving Ali.
Emerton finished a great movement after the break for his second while tall striker Kennedy capped a brilliant game with a 76th minute header.
