Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek's decision to discard striker Scott McDonald will be vindicated or vilified depending on Australia's results in the World Cup, according to his manager Lou Sticca.

McDonald has already returned to Britain, where he plays for Championship club Middlesborough, following his axing by coach Pim Verbeek on the eve of the Cup squad's departure for South Africa.

While upset about being left out, McDonald was conscious of not burning his bridges with the Australian set-up via a Joel Griffiths-style outburst about his omission.

McDonald didn't seem to fit in with Verbeek's rigid formation, but Sticca said it was a wasted opportunity not to use a player who has been a prolific goal-scorer with every club he has played for.

"He's very disappointed, but what else can you say?" Sticca told AAP.

"It's a very emotional game and if you say something in the heat of the moment you can burn your bridges for the future.

"The results in South Africa will dictate whether it was a good decision or a bad one ... time will tell.

"If Australia loses all three games and doesn't score any goals, it's going to look like he (Verbeek) mucked up, but if they do score and go through it will look like a great decision."

At the last tournament in Germany, Verbeek's predecessor Guus Hiddink used John Aloisi and Josh Kennedy as impact players off the bench whenever he was chasing the game from behind - a circumstance that unfolded in both the tournament opener against Japan and the pivotal final group game against Croatia.

Sticca questioned the logic of jettisoning a player perfectly capable of doing the same job.

"He's a proven goal scorer, whereas some of the others in the squad are not," he said.

"If you are chasing the game, say we're losing 1-0 to Serbia in the last game, who comes on for us?

"Scott hasn't scored goals for Australia in the systems they've used but he's scored goals for every club he's played for and scored against AC Milan and Manchester United..."

As for McDonald's international future, Sticca said the 26-year-old had made a lot of long flights to Australia from Europe through the years to be involved in this campaign, and would now have to see who took over from Verbeek before deciding what to do next.

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