The first wound proved fatal for the Socceroos and because it was at least partly self-inflicted, Pim Verbeek must carry the can.

Australia's 2010 World Cup campaign never recovered from that horrendous opening night in Durban.

Verbeek and his players worked minor miracles after that, very nearly pinching a win with 10 men against Ghana before toppling Serbia 2-1 in a whirlwind finish.

But suffering a 4-0 massacre at the outset gave them a mountain that always looked too hard to climb.

If a coach's job is to get his best available team out on the park playing at its best, then Verbeek was two-thirds successful in South Africa.

Opening night was a shocker, not just because of the magnitude or the manner of the roasting but because Verbeek confounded everyone with his team selection.

All of a sudden Richard Garcia was playing up front, Harry Kewell and Josh Kennedy were both on the bench, and so was Mark Bresciano.

Carl Valeri was thrust into a central role and Jason Culina was yanked out of position wide on the left.

What was Verbeek thinking?

If he intended to surprise the Germans, he succeeded only in confusing his own players.

They were torn to ribbons as a rampant Germany ran riot, with Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller and Sami Khedira producing some of the most breathtaking football of the tournament.

"We are disappointed in ourselves for the way we started the tournament," captain Lucas Neill acknowledged after Australia's win over Serbia just failed to get them into the second round.

"The way we conducted ourselves in the next two games is something we can really be proud of.

"Unfortunately it wasn't enough.

"It's just a pity about that first game.

"Had we not needed to get three or four goals (against Serbia) we might have dropped anchor when we were leading 2-0.

"The regret is that we were a little bit naive in the first game.

"To go 2-0 down and then have a man (Tim Cahill)sent off, we should have pulled everyone back and drawn a line under it and said, 'Right, we'll lose 2-0'.

"The way we think is, 'Let's see if we can go and get one back', and really we should have said, 'Right 2-0, let's lick our wounds and move on'."

Hindsight is 20-20 but the criticism of Verbeek by an astonished media started before a ball was kicked in Durban.

Any inquest into Australia's brave but unsuccessful campaign in South Africa must revisit the nightmare of that first match.

Verbeek's audacious opening calls proved terminal.

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