No popping champagne corks just yet says Verbeek

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has warned his players not to get too carried away with last night’s big win over Qatar, saying there is still a long way to go and nothing can be taken for granted.

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has warned his players not to get too carried away with last night-s big win over Qatar, saying there is still a long way to go and nothing can be taken for granted.

Verbeek has also issued the same warning to the media and fans alike and said he would only pop open the champagne once they have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

“I-m not running around with a bottle of champagne in my hand, because we have six points,” Verbeek told the media gathering after the match, when asked how close we are to qualifying. “I will do that when we qualify.

“Before we qualify, we should not think we are there because we still have a long way to go.”

Verbeek was quick to praise his players, especially his senior players before the start of the game, who did a terrific job to keep the boys motivated after the game was held up for half an hour by the severe thunderstorm that drenched Suncorp Stadium.

“We had a difficult start, because we were warming up and had to come off; we had to wait and nobody knew what was going to happen.

“The most experienced guys, especially (Mark) Schwarzer, Lucas Neill and (Craig) Moore did very well in the locker room to keep the boys awake and let them start as aggressive as possible. That-s what they did.

“It-s good when you have a player like Craig back in the team; you saw how he played the game without making any mistakes. Timmy (Cahill) we know he always scores a goal, so it always good to have them back.

“But it-s not only on the field, but also outside of the field; they have a very professional attitude.”

He reserved special praise for two-goal hero Brett Emerton, who has now scored four goals in the past two games against Qatar and is relishing the move further forward on the right side.

“He-s scoring goals; he-s doing very well; he-s playing in the midfield and has so much energy.

“He scored a very good goal and it-s not his first one, so it-s good for us, especially when you have Luke Wilkshire at the back who never makes a mistake. So our right side is doing very well at the moment.”

Despite missing four key players for this game, Verbeek believes they potentially face a tougher time in the matches ahead that will test their depth.

“The coming six games we will have the same situation (with players missing),” he said.

“The next game is a non-FIFA (World Cup) date, so everybody has to play on the weekend and we hope and pray they can get on an airplane to Bahrain.

“We enough players; we have good players; we have talented players and we must be happy with that.

“I am a happy coach,” he added, with an air of contentment in his voice.