Sometimes the truth can be a cruel mistress.

On a humid Sunday night in Durban, Truth was disguised in the form of a rampaging German team as it kicked down the doors then ransacked the Socceroos World Cup dream.

The painful reality for Pim Verbeek and his squad just 24 hours on from the 4-0 mauling inside the Moses Machida Stadium is that all the doubts about their ability to cope with the artful science of Joachim Low's young German tyros were exposed in the full glare of the watching world.

Having set his stall out to play for a draw Verbeek dreadfully miscalculated.

The ageing legs of his defenders Craig Moore and Lucas Neill were never likely to deal with the lightning quick and disciplined movement of the ball from the likes of Thomas Mueller, Mesut Ozil and Phillip Lamm. Investing in his creaking defensive stocks to save the game was at best wishful thinking and at worst an alarmingly reckless and desperate act.

Craig Moore stepped down from International football a couple of years back but was coaxed out of retirement for one more shot at glory. His initial decision was the correct one. This indomitable servant of Australian football deserved better than to be outclassed on the world stage as he was against Germany.

Scott Chipperfield, who has had a fine season playing as a goal scorer for FC Basel in Switzerland, seemed to age a decade in 45 minutes as the avalanche of white shirts hurtled around and passed him.

What's worse is that the continued reliance on these veterans has denied important opportunities to develop a new defensive pairing from generation next.

Matthew Spiranovic's career has stalled as he sits on the bench in the J League. Michael Beauchamp has emerged from a few years in the wilderness to show signs that he still has a future as a Socceroo but not in time for it to matter . Mark Milligan was once the next big thing. But so were acid wash jeans. Both are unwanted these days.

To see Lucas Neill and his defenders trying to work the offside trap said it all. They looked like men caught in a rip out the back of a set of Bondi breakers, drowning not waving.

The last time the Socceroos tried that trick was back at the MCG in October 1997 against Iran and I need not tell you what the implications were that night. It was a concession that they didn't have the tools to go to work and get the job done and they paid the price.

Tim Cahill is culpable as well. In Melbourne against New Zealand he was ticked off by Pim Verbeek for a reckless challenge on Leo Bertos that could have ended the Kiwis World Cup dream. Verbeek told Cahill that if he tried that sort of thing in a World Cup Finals match the consequences could be catastrophic. It is one call the coach got right.

Whilst you could argue Cahill's tackle didn't warrant a red card, once he jumped in recklessly he left himself at the mercy of the referee and we all know the result. The hero of Kaiserslautern who had realised the World Cup dream was now in the midst of a nightmare all of his own making.

Amongst the many thousands of travelling fans here in South Africa the feeling is not one of disappointment in the result - the Germans were breathtaking - but it was the absence of the tenacity and desire that was the trademark of this team. Many feel the Socceroos didn't live the creed they've spoken about at every turn in the lead up to the World Cup Finals.

Talking the talk is one thing. The game against Ghana in Rustenburg offers on final chance for this generation of Socceroos to prove they can still walk the walk.