We may have been hoping for a minor miracle but a fighting victory was enough to make Socceroos fans proud. A bright spot on a World Cup that was threatening complete disappointment for Australia was delivered in a typically hard-working fashion.

Realistically, we couldn't have asked for any more.

The team was brave, positive, organised and, somewhat surprisingly, clever.

It would have been an easy option to go searching for early goals but the idea was to not concede early and pick the right time to pressure Serbia.

We did just that.

A Verbeek masterstroke? Perhaps a bit much. The proper execution of a realistic plan? No doubt. Some might argue that not achieving the scoreline required for qualification is a failure but we were never going to manage it without major favours from Germany and/or Ghana.

Unfortunately, the result against Serbia and huge team effort against Ghana were tempered not only by the crushing defeat at the hands of Germany but also the lack of clear positives to emerge from the tournament. Luckily, certain individuals will always step out of the shadows in the heat of a World Cup, just as Luke Wilkshire did in 2006.

While better known than Wilkshire was four years ago, Carl Valeri and Brett Holman have both proved as equally successful experiments at the 2010 edition as he did then.

I feel it's as safe to say that these two were the most recognised success stories of South Africa 2010 as it is to say that one was a little more expected than the other. No doubting that Carl Valeri was the one who promised more heading into the Cup despite playing at a lower level than Holman.

Valeri had been expected to become a starting member of the side sooner or later and Vince Grella's sharp decline has been the catalyst for his successor to emerge. Starting all three matches, he improved with every outing after an average first-up showing against Germany. He turned it around, though, with his tackling and drive through the middle of the pitch playing an important part in Australia's resurrection.

Holman, on the other hand, was the most contentious selection in the squad. Nonetheless, he quickly became the hardest to leave out of the XI.

The Eredivisie winning midfielder finally displayed what his finished product looks like. An opportunist's goal against Ghana followed by a Steven Gerrard-esque strike to win the final game has forced even his harshest critics - myself included - into recognising his talents. His ball retention skills and ability to link with other players are still questionable though he has now proven that Brett Holman is not just a club football specialist.

However, one of the first tasks of the new man in charge will be to acknowledge and rectify the negatives to come out of this World Cup; negatives that are more than just the confirmation that referees are indeed against us.

Clearly, the result against Germany was a step backwards for Australian football. The combination of poor coaching and naive football from the players on the pitch, including poor defensive positioning and an unwillingness to track German runs, were a lethal mix. Unfortunately, similar failings were evident in the subsequent fixtures.

An inability to keep possession was a consistent issue for the side in all three matches. While playing with ten men for the majority of the opening two matches is a fair excuse, the problem was not rectified in the final game. The period of domination against Serbia coincided with a control of possession that was lacking in the early and later stages of the game. The right combination of pressure on the opponent and self-composure is both a tactical and technical issue for the national side, as Craig Foster would say.

At the end of the day, or the end of the tournament in this case, Australian fans can look back on South Africa 2010 with pride. Memories may be tainted with feelings of frustration and the colour red but there is nothing more that we can do other than to accept it all as part of the World Cup rollercoaster.

With the tournament effectively over for some Aussie fans, we can now face a world where Australia has collected more points than France, scored more goals than England, Brett Holman is our new hero and Pim Verbeek has encouraged attacking football.

It's the end of the World (Cup) as we know it.