Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has taken the axe to his 31-man squad, cutting it back to 28.

Striker Scott McDonald, midfielder Nick Carle and defender Jade North had their World Cup dream shattered when Verbeek opted this afternoon, to leave them at home.

The remaining 28 will travel to a training camp in Johannesburg on Wednesday, where the squad will be further cut to the 23 that will represent Australia in the biggest show on earth, the football World Cup.

The five who do not make the final cut will remain with the team in South Africa for the duration of the tournament.

Verbeek said that McDonald, who played most of last night’s win over New Zealand at the MCG, had been given every chance to prove his worth, but had failed to fit into the Socceroos single-striker system.

“Scotty is a typical two-striker player, and that’s where he feels happy also,” Verbeek said.

“But we don’t play with two strikers. We play with one striker up top and wingers, so Scotty doesn’t fit in this system.

“He knows it, and he tried everything.”

McDonald has failed to score in 16 appearances with the national side.

Nikita Rukavytsya will instead back up Josh Kennedy and Harry Kewell on the front row.

The axe fell following last night’s lukewarm performance against the 78th ranked All-Whites, that saw the Socceroos save face only thanks to a last-gasp goal by Brett Holman.

The final score 2-1, the other goal scorer Dario Vidosic in the 56th minute.

The so-called friendly was marred by rough play from the Socceroos after the Kiwis jumped to an early 1-0 break.

Vinnie Grella and Tim Cahill were cited by the referee and yellow-carded for ugly tackles, which angered coach Verbeek.

“I’m going to tell them it’s unacceptable,” he said after the match.

“You cannot afford to go into any game and make tackles like that. In the World Cup, it’s probably two red cards.”

“We’ve got to make sure we are fully disciplined going into the World Cup,” captain Lucas Neill responded.

Australia will play warm-up matches against Denmark on June 1 and the USA on June 5 in Roodepoort, before facing up to juggernaut Germany in Durban on June 14.

Socceroos’ 28-man provisional squad:

Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer, Adam Federici, Brad Jones, Eugene Galekovic.

Defenders: Scott Chipperfield, David Carney, Lucas Neill, Michael Beauchamp, Shane Lowry, Craig Moore, Mark Milligan, Rhys Williams, Luke Wilkshire.

Midfielders: Vince Grella, Carl Valeri, Jason Culina, Mile Jedinak, Tim Cahill, Brett Holman, Dario Vidosic, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia, James Holland, Tommy Oar.

Strikers: Nikita Rukavytsya, Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell.