It is difficult to know what to take from Australia's loss to China on Sunday, apart from the fact that if 24 of the Socceroos' best 25 players are unavailable, they might be in trouble.
Pim Verbeek's decision to play what was close to a fourth-string side in a World Cup qualifier was a puzzling one. While it is important he gets to see what the next generation of Australian stars has to offer, surely he doesn't need to see them all on the same pitch at the same time.
The 1-0 scoreline misrepresented what a mismatch this clash was. China was completely dominant, should have had a second goal and could have had a third or fourth. The end result was Australia's first World Cup qualifying loss on home soil in 27 years. While that's hardly an imposing record seeing the Socceroos have been knocking around with the likes of American Samoa and the Solomon Islands for much of that time, it's still a disappointing result.
While it may have been a case of Verbeek testing his depth, it actually looked more like an Olyroos warm-up match. Six of the starting XI from this match are eligible to play in the Olympics, and given that Graham Arnold can also select three overage players for that squad, then they were only one short of a likely Beijing line-up. Replace Michael Petkovic with Adam Federici in goal and there you have it.
What was even more perplexing was the fact that it wasn't even the best six Olyroos. There was no Nathan Burns, no Nick Ward, no Mark Milligan and no Mark Bridge. In fact of the 18 players who featured in the Olyroos' final qualifier against North Korea last November, only four featured in the squad on Sunday night.
The counter-argument is that it was a dead rubber and the result didn't matter. But in front of over 70,000, the Socceroos brand took a bit of a dent. Many of the fans on Sunday night may not have heard of some of the Australian players, and we are not talking about uneducated football fans here.
Without wanting to get too specific, Kristian Sarkies struggled to get a game for Adelaide United this season and now he finds himself representing the Socceroos. It's a similar story for David Williams, who has played just 26 club games at senior level. Matthew Spiranovic, while he was probably best of all the young players on Sunday, has played just 15 games.
To draw a line between different sports, it's like a player who can not get a game for a state side in cricket, being called up for the national team. The Australian cricket team reveres the Baggy Green, and the honour of playing Test cricket has been reserved for just 401 players over the course of 696 matches. Verbeek has given 42 players Socceroos caps in his eight games in charge!
But it's not only the players who are getting games for Australia, it's those who are missing out. While many of the next level of overseas-based players, the premier local talent was ignored.
Rody Vargas, one of the A-League's best defenders, warmed the bench on Sunday, while Archie Thompson was told his services wouldn't be required. Joel and Adam Griffiths weren't in the squad, neither was Alex Brosque.
While it is all fine and well to test the depth of the squad, there is limited usefulness to going too deep with a few of the players found out against a close to full strength Chinese side. Ruben Zadkovich had a night to forget, James Troisi and James Holland were barely sited, while Williams, Sarkies and Neil Kilkenny made no impact off the bench. Spiranovic, Bruce Djite and Nikolai Topor-Stanley acquitted themselves well and clearly have futures in the national team in the long-term.
But in the immediate future, Sunday's match was proof that Australia will need close to its best XI to compete in the next round of qualifying, the draw of which will be decided on Friday. If Verbeek is forced to use the some of the players he trotted out on Sunday in those matches then South Africa could be a very long way away.