If Bert did try to go through the group without him, would it really be the end of his Socceroos career, though? Personally I suspect not as he would almost certainly be the kind of player Graham Arnold would lean on for the Asian Cup campaign next year.

But Russia 2018 could see the skipper, who led us through qualifying, relegated to a bit part role on the bench.

Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
Asensio's Screamer Vs FC Barcelona
In one of Real Madrid's most outstanding performances at the Camp Nou, Los Blancos beat FC Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Supercup. Real were leading 2-1 after Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute goal, but just before the final whistle, we sealed the win with this beautiful Marco Asensio strike.
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That said, who replaces him in front of defence? BvM seems to favour Massimo Luongo, yet I still see him more as a 10 or an 8 than a 6, but to be fair he plays that role for his club and has performed well for the Roos there.

But for me, Jackson Irvine offers more in that role with the added bonus of ALSO being strong in attack, versus Luongo’s strong in attack who can also play a role in defence.

Luongo, Mooy, Rogic, Kruse, Leckie, Nabbout seem like too much of an aggressive selection, certainly for France and possibly only for a Hail Mary game against Peru where a win is vital.

Neither Milligan nor Risdon helped their case for a starting slot. They are still both probably the best for the role in the squad... but if I were BvM, I’d love another run out with Jurman in that defence and just to check Risdon is indeed the best option and that he simply had a poor night in Budapest.

Brad Jones also showed why he struggled to get caps. He may have shone in the Eredivisie but the miscommunication with Sainsbury which led to the own goal simply is unimaginable with Mat Ryan or Danny Vukovic between the green and gold sticks.

Finally, Tomi Juric may definitely be struggling to pin down a place in Bert’s line up. Given 34 minutes in the second half to show what he can do, he failed to deliver again. 

He may well be the tough target man who can hold up the ball and set up those around him, but if they are incapable of scoring (and the goals-to-game ratio of Leckie, Kruse, Rogic and Mooy suggest they generally are, at best, infrequent goalscorers) then he has to do the business himself... and a goal every four games is simply not good enough for that role.

But then Nabbout couldn’t find the net in 45 minutes either. One more friendly with Jamie Maclaren starting could have offered deeper insight into BvM’s squad depth and strength but the option is no longer there. 

There are big decisions to make, and an intense few days on the training ground in Kazan ahead.

If, as he says, van Marwijk is only thinking about the France game right now, then there is a helluva lot to think about in the next six days, starting the very second they arrive in Kazan later today.