To see World Cup fans out and about in Sydney overnight...

  

 

Australia were dominated in every aspect on the park, and while the quality of the Germany performance was beyond anything yet seen at this tournament, the lack of quality on the Socceroos' account has raised many questions.

The most immediate is why Pim Verbeek, renowned for his conservative tactical approach as a coach, opted to experiment in the biggest match of his tenure, against a side of such immense quality.

He played without a recognised striker, pushing Tim Cahill into a non-preferred role up front, with Jason Culina, Richard Garcia and Brett Emerton in support.

Culina played 12 of the 14 World Cup qualifiers, none of them in that role, while Garcia started in just one and Emerton six, but none of the past six. The result was three players learning to play with each other and combine with a striker who would rather be playing their role.

Cahill looked all at sea with the dominant German defensive pairing of Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich giving him little space to work. Garcia and Emerton worked hard to create support, but too often they found themselves with the ball in isolated positions.

The move of Culina was the intriguing one. While he has been employed in more attacking roles at club level for years, the defensive midfield role has been his since the last World Cup. Australia needs him in the role to distribute the ball and transfer play effectively from defence to midfield. Instead he found himself with his back to goal and passing backwards.

The combination of Vince Grella and Carl Valeri was meant to nullify the influence of Bastian
Schweinsteiger in the middle of the park, and to that end it worked to a certain degree. However, the approach was too narrow, enabling the Germans to transfer the ball quickly out wide though full backs Thomas Muller and Phillip Lahm, who were hugely influential.

This put a lot of pressure on Scott Chipperfield, who was found wanting for pace on several occasions and Luke Wilkshire, who seemed caught between his role as a full-back and his duties as a key mover of the ball. On one occasion, he took a free kick on the left, the ball was turned over and Germany had acres of space to operate in on the right.

The first goal came down Wilkshire's side, while the second came from Chipperfield. Mesut Ozil's tremendous speed was used to expose the slow legs of Craig Moore and Lucas Neill and he cut them open like a can opener on so many occasions. That wasn't helped by the insistence on playing a high offside line which simply opened the door for Germany to use its width to attack.

The problem was that in most areas of the park, there was no Plan B. Instead of opting for experience off the bench as a means to getting back into the game, Verbeek called on Nikita Rukavytsya, Brett Holman and Mile Jedinak, who between them started in five of the World Cup qualifiers.

Verbeek opted for a 4-4-2 set-up after Cahill was sent off, but in the time it took for Australia to get organised, Germany scored two goals, to make it 4-0. For Verbeek to say that it was an improved effort in the second half is to completely ignore the fact that Germany put the cue in the rack with 20 minutes to go.

The question that is being asked now is - Where are the goals going to come from with Cahill suspended and Harry Kewell seemingly not fit enough to play 90 minutes?

Australia mustered two shots on target in 90 minutes in Durban and one of them was inside the first two minutes. An answer must be found in a hurry.

If it was the Pim Verbeek who led Australia through the qualification campaign then you would say he would rely on his trusted sources of goal - Kennedy, Emerton and hopefully a contribution from Kewell, if not Mark Bresciano, who seems to have fallen out of favour.

But Verbeek's experimental take on the crucial opening game of the World Cup has left many wondering what the Dutchman is thinking and double checking the padlock on the medical cabinet.

He has six days to rediscover his Midas touch or Australia's World Cup will be an unmitigated disaster.

To see World Cup fans out and about in Sydney overnight...