IT IS one of the great oxymorons of Pim Verbeek’s tenure as Socceroos manager: the Mark Viduka waiting game.

Understandable, perhaps, given the 33 year-old's unquestioned talent and experience on the biggest stage and the qualities that make him one of the most unique Australian footballers of an entire generation, let alone squad.

Despite his lack of goals - and, perhaps, application - for the national team, Viduka's presence in South Africa would go some way to making that 4-2-3-1 formation (That's correct, it's not, a 4-3-3 set-up) all the more smooth and potent.

As it stands, Tim Cahill is Australia's one and only goal-scoring threat against the best teams in the world and whilst Viduka wouldn't alter the dynamic, the attention he attracts by virtue of his name and physical presence would alleviate pressure off the likes of the Everton man, who has at times had to increase his workload to compensate for his absence.

The other side of the argument - one in favour of grounding the ‘V-Bomber' permanently - centres around age, application and attitude.

Just why should a man who has yet to personally commit himself to the Australian cause less than 12 months out from a World Cup be afforded such leniency?

Was this not the same Pim Verbeek who refused to pick a certain Richard Porta on the basis that - and I quote, extremely loosely - the striker should have shown the initiative and dropped the FFA a line?

The case of double-standards would appear to be conspicuous, though the more discerning and sceptical follower might see that Porta became more a vehicle for Verbeek's mini-media war at the time.

Whatever the case, it serves to illustrate just how obvious the Dutchman's admiration of Viduka is and the fact remains that he is yet to rule him out of his selection plans, despite the fact that the former Newcastle United player is without a club and now reportedly retired from football.

It might just be that this particular waiting game has not only exposed for the entire watching world the glaring weakness of this Australian side - namely a dearth of striking options - but has also betrayed that this is a real concern for Verbeek.

If it weren't, then surely Viduka would have been given the Porta treatment long ago?