If under-fire Australia coach Pim Verbeek does not use the 31-year-old veteran in Saturday's must-win clash against Ghana in Rustenberg then surely serious questions will be asked of just why Kewell was chosen in the 23-man squad in the first place.

It seemed incomprehensible to the thousands of disappointed Socceroos fans in Durban - as Germany handed Australia their heaviest ever World Cup finals defeat - that Kewell was not even bought on as a substitute at a time when the team needed to score goals like never before during a 4-0 loss.

Verbeek maintained after the game that the only reason Kewell did not come on was because Australia went down to 10 men in the 56th minute when Tim Cahill was sent off and therefore he needed to go with other players.

But even before Cahill was sent off, Verbeek opted to bring the much-maligned Brett Holman on as his first substitute (in place of defensive midfielder Vince Grella) to give the team more attacking bite.

If this was not enough to cause Australian fans to shake their heads in disbelief - after all, even a half-fit Kewell would surely be a better bet to score or set up a goal than the modest Holman - then Verbeek's next substitution was even more baffling bringing on striker Nikita Rukavytsya, a player barely known in Australia by even hardcore football fans.

While Verbeek insisted after the game Kewell was fit enough to come on to the ground surely his choice of substitutions has to raise serious doubts as to the true state of Kewell's fitness.

It was no surprise that Verbeek opted not to start the injury-prone veteran considering he has only played a handful of minutes at club level since January following a long-running groin injury and had missed all three of Australia's lead-up matches.

But it was a huge surprise - along with the omissions of Josh Kennedy and Mark Bresciano who also stayed on the bench throughout - that he did not come on even for at least the last 20 minutes in a bid to help Australia get something out of what was a disastrous performance.

Even Kewell's team-mates seemed genuinely surprised after the game that the country's most famous player was not given a run at any stage in a game where the Socceroos were crying out for his creativity.

All throughout the lead-up to the game Kewell insisted he was fit and raring to go and capable of playing 90 minutes let alone the last 20 minutes.

But Verbeek obviously thought differently.

However, if Verbeek thought Kewell wasn't even up to playing the last few minutes of the opening game then why choose him in the squad, particularly as one of just three strikers in a 23-man squad?

But with Cahill - Australia's only regular scorer at international level in recent years - now suspended for Saturday's clash against Ghana in Rustenberg - Verbeek simply has to unleash Kewell or face ridicule for his decision to select him in the first place.

Because of the hammering the team's goal difference took against Germany, Australia must beat both Ghana and Serbia in their final two group games if they are to progress to the knockout stages and to do that it has to score goals.

And with Cahill out for at least one match, Kewell is Australia's best bet to get the goals needed to take Australia to the second round.

However, if he does not start against Ghana, or even worse not come on at all, as was the case against Germany, then we will know he hasn't been genuinely fit all along and it was a waste of time bringing him to South Africa.

And it will make Verbeek's decision to leave Scott McDonald - one of the few Socceroos who is a proven scorer at club level in Europe despite his poor record at international level - at home an even worse decision as Socceroos fans begin to wonder just where the goals will come from if Cahill is suspended, Kennedy is out of favour, McDonald is at home and Kewell remains in limbo on the bench.