Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek remained patient when his side went down 1-0 for the first time in the World Cup qualifying campaign. A first-half Japan goal through Marcus Tulio Tanaka put the Australian team on the back foot but Verbeek was hoping to see a positive reaction.

"It's the first time in this campaign that we were 1-0 behind so we always have to wait on what the team is going to do and they reacted fantastic," the Dutchman said at the post-match press conference.

"Immediately after the goal (Japan's) we had a great chance to score just before half-time.

"We started very in the second half so I was just waiting for the goal and that's exactly what we did so it was not difficult for me."

Tim Cahill managed two second-half goals to keep the Socceroos on top of their group which was a pleasing result for Verbeek.

"If you play at home in such a great stadium with so many fans coming to this game then you want to win this game," he added.

"First of all you want to win the game for the fans, for yourself, and I think it's a great statement to the rest of the Asia and probably the rest of the world that you can finish a campaign like this five points ahead.

"We didn't lose one game, we got (conceded) one goal but you can't have it all.

"It's fantastic and I'm very proud of the players."