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Australia's World Cup hopes now hang by a thread after Kewell joined Tim Cahill in red card hell with the Socceroos needing a minor miracle to reach the second round.

Not only will they have to beat Serbia - which beat Germany 1-0 in its second match - in their final group game in Nelspruit on Wednesday to advance but they will also most likely need Ghana to beat Germany in the other match.

In that case a mere win against Serbia would be good enough for Australia to make the last 16 but if Germany beats Ghana or that match ends in a draw, the Socceroos will also have to make up a mountain of goal difference following their 4-0 loss to Germany in the opening game which would be most unlikely.

And they will not only be without Kewell, who will now be automatically suspended following his red card against Ghana, but also their most experienced defender in Craig Moore after he picked up a second yellow card in the tournament in this match meaning he too will be suspended for the Serbia game.

Just as Australia appeared to discover some momentum thanks to an 11th-minute goal from Brett Holman - one of four inclusions to the team following the loss to Germany - Kewell's much anticipated return to the national side ended in disaster.

Kewell, who last started for the Socceroos in an Asian Cup qualifier against Oman in Muscat in November, was controversially not used at all in the opening game against Germany after coach Pim Verbeek was not convinced he had recovered from the groin injury which has seen him play just minutes of club football in the past six months.

However with Australia badly needing to win this game to keep their hopes alive of qualifying for the knockout stages for the second World Cup in a row, Verbeek had little choice but to start Kewell, particularly with the Socceroos' most prolific scorer of recent times in Cahill suspended.

But Kewell's involvement lasted just 25 minutes when he was sent off for having been ruled to have handled a goalbound shot on the goal line.

That allowed Ghana to equalise from the penalty spot courtesy of their striker Asamoah Gyan, who also scored the decisive penalty in Ghana's 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening group game.

Kewell vigorously protested the decision as the Socceroos' fans expressed their anger and disbelief in the stadium. 

Kewell was ruled by Italian referee Roberto Rosettito that he moved his arm deliberately towards the ball to prevent Jonathan Mensah's goalbound shot from crossing the line with Schwarzer hopelessly stranded.

While the shot only appeared to hit Kewell high on his arm rather than on his hand, it was the fact he appeared to move his arm towards the ball to deliberately block the shot that caused the referee to send him off.

The goal came courtesy of a brilliant run down the right by Andre Ayew, who wriggled his way past two Socceroos' defenders in Luke Wilkshire and Brett Emerton before squaring up a brilliant ball across the box to an unmarked Mensah - whose shot was headed for the net until Kewell's intervention.

Earlier the Socceroos - who bought in Kewell, Mark Bresciano, Holman and David Carney - for the suspended Cahill, the injured Vince Grella and omitted pair Scott Chipperfield and Richard Garcia from the Germany game - got off to the best possible start thanks to two of Verbeek's inclusions.

After Carl Valeri won a free-kick with a great run through the middle of the park, Bresciano curled it superbly over the wall.

The shot bounced awkwardly in front of Ghana's English-based keeper Richard Kingson - who was captain of the Black Stars in the absence of the injured John Mensah - and Kingson fumbled badly.

Holman took full advantage to tuck home the rebound past the despairing Kingson, who almost blocked the shot.

It was only Holman's third goal in 33 appearances for the Socceroos but his second in a month after he scored the winning goal against New Zealand in the final warm-up game in Australia at the MCG in late May.

The goal sent the large contingent of Socceroos' fans at this remote stadium into ecstasy but unfortunately their momentum did not last long thanks to Kewell's sending off as Verbeek was left to curse losing the country's two most proven goalscorers and highest profile players to red cards in successive matches.

Kewell is now automatically suspended for Wednesday's must win game against Serbia in Nelspruit although Cahill will at least return for that match.

The Socceroos defended gallantly with just ten men in the second half with Schwarzer in great form as he made a series of crucial saves while Moore and Lucas Neill were far more convincing than against Germany in the centre of defence.

Australia even had chances to pinch an unlikely win with ten men in the second half as substitute Scott Chipperfield headed over in great position with his first touch in the 67th minute while defender Luke Wilkshire wasted the Socceroos' best chance of the second half five minutes later when he got in behind the defence one-on-one with the keeper but his shot was blocked.

But despite the result, the Socceroos and their fans will have taken great heart from the brave and often skilful performance giving them redemption in Rustenburg after the disaster in Durban.

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