Which rabbits will Verbeek now pull out of the hat after loss to the USA?

Australia came down to earth with a thud when they lost 3-1 to the United States of America on Saturday night [Australian time] in the Socceroos’ final practice match before taking on Germany in the World Cup.

The defeat follows wins against New Zealand (2-1) and Denmark (1-0), which may have given the Socceroos a false sense of invincibility.

Coach Pim Verbeek tried to shrug off the defeat as unimportant, but his body language and tone indicated something else.

A worrying aspect of the loss was that Australia fielded their first-choice defence and yet could easily have lost by five or six goals.

The Americans missed an open goal and had another goal disallowed for off-side when it looked quite legitimate.

Australia had 58 per cent of the possession and 7 shots at goal compared to the USA’s six, while the Socceroos had 10 corners and the Americans only three.

Vince Grella was responsible for the opening goal when his error deep in midfield gave possession to the Americans, while late in the match he earned a yellow card. He may well be a liability when the games are for real as he might have earned two reds and a yellow in the three practice matches to date.

Josh Kennedy was ineffective in attack and missed two gilt-edged chances. If we rely on him in attack, we will be in trouble.

Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton did not make appearances and it is of concern that they may be considered for the match against Germany when they have had no game time at all in the warm-ups.

On a pitch that resembled the home turf of the meerkats in the wildlife programme “Meerkat Manor”, Australia got off to the worst possible start when Edson Buddle gained possession after Grella’s slip and fired past Mark Schwarzer from the edge of the box in the 4th minute.

It was only Buddle’s third cap for the USA and his first goal for his country.

Tim Cahill, upon whom Australia’s hopes appear to rest when it comes to goals, equalised in the 19th minute when he poked home a corner from the far side of the 6-yard box.

The USA should have been 2-0 up by that stage as Robbie Findley missed an open goal in the 14th minute after he had sprung the off-side trap and rounded Schwarzer.

Only a brilliant save by Schwarzer denied Clint Dempsey in the 26th minute, the American shooting low from the left and the Australian keeper getting a fingertip to the ball and diverting it past the far post for a corner.

Buddle restored the Americans’ lead in the 31st minute. Marco Bresciano was unable to prevent Steve Cherundulo from floating over a pin-point cross from the right and Buddle nodded home from inside the 6-yard box as Craig Moore and Luke Wilkshire looked in vain for the guided missile homing in on its target.

Kennedy squandered the chance to equalise when he missed a simple header from just 4 metres out in the 34th minute after Scott Chipperfield’s precise left-wing cross.

Moore and Dempsey were both booked in the 37th minute after Moore’s foul on the American ended with both players facing up to each other with their foreheads touching and both posturing like a pair of mountain goats about to have a biff.

Australia created several good chances in the second half through Bresciano and Chipperfield, but the USA’s substitute goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann saved both shots.

The USA should have had a third goal when Buddle fired against the crossbar and the ball rebounded to Findley, whose shot was turned against the bar by Schwarzer. Michael Bradley’s diving header put the ball in the net, but the effort was disallowed because of a controversial off-side decision.

In the 3rd minute of stoppage time, a cross from the right by Donovan was swept home by Herculez Gomez to complete the Americans’ 3-1 victory and put them in the right frame of mind for when the World Cup begins.

In contrast, the Australians face more questions than answers, and it’s a worry when coach Verbeek may be considering pulling Kewell and Emerton like rabbits out of a hat for the showdown with Germany.