Australia were defeated 4-0 by Germany in their opening World Cup game this morning (AEST) and tribalfootall.com have rated all the Socceroos players.
Luke Wilkshire was by far the best player for the side with endless running down the right flank and quality distribution both in the air and on the ground. He seemed to be the only player, maybe apart from goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who showed any fight.
Schwarzer, despite conceding four goals, was solid with some crucial saves and it easily could have been 6 or 7-nil if there was a lesser man in goals. Not much he could really do about three of Germany's attacks but the header by Miroslav Klose could have been tracked down if he was on his toes.
Brett Emerton was strong but not spectacular in his return from injury. He was busy on the wing but had to be replaced in the 74th minute.
Richard Garcia got himself in goalscoring positions and was unlucky not to have at least one and he worked hard to try and be both a creative and defensive forward whilst Brett Holman provided a spark when he came on for Vince Grella at half-time.
Craig Moore and Lucas Neill were murdered in defence. They looked slow and unmotivated with captain Neill spending more time remonstrating with the linesman that he did worrying about what his opponents were doing to him.
8 - Luke Wilkshire 6 - Mark Schwarzer 6 - Brett Emerton 6 - Richard Garcia 6 - Brett Holman 5 - Carl Valeri 5 - Jason Culina 5 - Scott Chipperfield 4 - Nikita Rukavytsya 4 - Vince Grella 4 - Lucas Neill 4 - Craig Moore 4 - Tim Cahill 4 - Mile Jedinak