Birthday boy Mark Viduka was among the scorers as Australia displayed new-found flexibility and attacking prowess in a 5-0 thumping of a ramshackle Jamaica in its final warm-up for next month's World Cup qualifiers.

With the defensive options depleted by injuries, Australia played a 3-4-3 formation, with normal fullback Lucas Neill deployed in the centre of defence, flanked by debutant Michael Thwaite and veteran Tony Vidmar.

Up front Viduka was the targetman. The skipper, who turned 30, was flanked by man-of-the-match Jason Culina and Archie Thompson, while Brett Emerton was used in an unfamiliar central midfield role.

Tim Cahill was only used as a late substitute as Hiddink accepted pleas from Everton for a rest given his big recent workload, while Harry Kewell was not ready despite taking part in the lead-up practice camp in Holland.

The match was the last hitout for the Socceroos before they play Uruguay, Colombia or Chile in the two-legged play-off for the final spot at Germany 2006.

It was difficult to gauge the performance given the opposition, with the Reggae Boyz only a shadow of the team that made the 1998 World Cup, and rusty having been eliminated from qualification at a preliminary stage in this campaign.

"In an international game a 5-0 score is a good score, and we had some good attacks," coach Guus Hiddink said.

"It's not the strongest team we've opposed, but on the other hand we did well in pressing.

"I enjoyed the game, but there were some sloppy moments as well.

"They didn't cause us problems but when we play on a higher level - the qualification level and the World Cup level - as a coach I can't be too easily satisfied with an apparently good performance."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP