Matthew Hall is a leading freelance Australian soccer journalist.

Harry Kewell watched Australia's first World Cup match against Germany from the bench, his coach Pim Verbeek believing the star striker was not fit enough to make a contribution to that game.

Kewell watched most of Australia's second World Cup match against Ghana from inside his team's dressing room, overseen by a security guard, after receiving a red card for handball.

Anyone with a heart would feel Kewell's pain - and that has nothing to do with the staples inserted into groin after an operation in January.

Since that setback earlier in the year, Kewell worked tirelessly to be ready to wear an Australian shirt at this World Cup.

He overcame physical and mental challenges to be selected for Verbeek's squad and, right on time, announced he was ready to play against Germany.

His reward was a bizarre vitriolic - and inaccurate - attack from a section of the Australian media that (thankfully briefly) became Australia's main World Cup story for a few days when instead scrutiny should have been applied to Verbeek and his team.

But starting against Ghana, Kewell answered critics by injecting life into Australia's performance. He caused Ghana problems, was there when Brett Holman scored a dramatic goal, and then...

Bang.

You all saw the incident but few of us can agree on what actually happened.

Did Kewell handle the ball? Not really.

Did he commit an offence? Probably.

Was it intentional? Not likely.

Was he tragically, sadly, unlucky? Definitely.

Kewell was dismissed by referee Roberto Rosetti (not "Rossi" as The Age suggested) under Law 12 (football has "laws" not rules).

Law 12 states: "Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm.

The referee must take the following into consideration:

• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)

• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)

• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement.

A player is sent off, however, if he prevents a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. This punishment arises not from the act of the player deliberately handling the ball but from the unacceptable and unfair intervention that prevented a goal being scored."

Key word: Deliberate.

Did Kewell intend to handle?

He said he didn't and video replays and his body language at the time of the incident hint he may have been telling the truth.

The reality is that there is no real answer to what occurred except what the referee decided.

Shame such exact scrutiny was not applied in the second minute where, the letter of the law applied, Kewell should have been awarded a penalty for an unfortunate - and unlucky - trip by a Ghanaian player.

That might have changed Kewell's World Cup - and allowed him (and fans) - more than 25 minutes in this tournament.