Marco's magic

AUSTRALIA played the role of schoolyard bully to perfection last night, slapping down the boys of Bahrain to secure a 2-0 win and a seeding at next year's Asian Cup finals in south-east Asia.

It could have been five or six but nobody much cared on a night when Sydneysiders came out to doff their caps to Australia's World Cup warriors.

First-half goals from John Aloisi and Marco Bresciano – the chief choreographer and instigator of Bahrain's pain – did the damage.

But Australia finished with plenty of fuel left in the tank as they provided Asia with a sneak peek of what will be on the menu come July when they mix it with regional giants led by Japan, South Korea and China.

With Bresciano toying and teasing and the ebullience of Tim Cahill and Jason Culina causing consternation, there was never a route back into the match for Bahrain, who must now beat Kuwait to join Australia in the finals.

It should have been 3-0 after 49 minutes when Bresciano, who appeared to have the ball in his permanent keep, measured a cross onto the usually deadly head of Cahill.

But the midfielder got his bearings wrong, directing what would normally be a regulation finish high over the bar.

Scott Chipperfield later squandered a tap-in chance from Mile Sterjovski's 56th-minute cross as the ball landed on his right foot.

Then the crossbar saved the visitors, rattling under the ferocity of a 20m half-volley from Sterjovski after Bresciano had released him with a lofted long-distance delivery.

Bresciano gave way to Adelaide's Travis Dodd with 22 minutes remaining as coach Graham Arnold did the midfielder's Italian club Palermo a favour.

Archie Thompson, the A-League's main man, arrived for Sterjovksi with 16 minutes left.

The visitors won few friends on the terraces, hurling themselves to the deck as if hit by tranquiliser darts at every opportunity.

It was always going to be an ominous assignment for Bahrain, who sent in the boys of their Olympic team for the man-sized task of subduing Australia's cast of World Cup stars.

But the students made their teachers blush at times during a torrid opening spell.

With bodies packed behind the ball and pace enough to embarrass the Socceroos with their counter-punches, it was boys-to-men stuff for the nation of just 700,000.

Any frayed nerves were settled in emphatic fashion after 18 minutes when Arnold's stellar cast sprinkled some angel dust on the evening.

Bresciano and Cahill bewitched a posse of defenders with a neat inter-change of passes on the edge of the area, allowing John Aloisi to calmly guide the ball home amid a flurry of bodies.

The strike took his national team tally to 25, just four short of Damian Mori's record.

There was a brief scare at the other end just three minutes later when Maymood Ayyad dispossessed Culina and then took on the Australian defence before unloading a rocket Schwarzer did well to tip away.

When the second goal inevitably arrived after 24 minutes it was a thing of beauty – Chipperfield's arrowed cross invited Sterjovski to provide the finish, only for the Basel midfielder to barrel over in the box.

As the full house bayed for a penalty, Bresciano exacted his own instant justice, swivelling in mid-air to lash home an acrobatic right-footer past keeper Sayed Abbas.

Aloisi had a header ruled out for offside soon afterwards as the visitors began to visibly wilt.