Fresh off a confronting reality check from Venezuela, the Socceroos will lick their wounds then head to New York knowing they must kick their performance up several gears against Colombia.

An experimental line-up turned in arguably the least impressive performance of the 13-game Tony Popovic era in Saturday's 1-0 loss in Houston.

The Socceroos were flat and, bar some early chances for Mohamed Toure, lacked any real drive or punch until second-half substitutes provided a spark.

The Socceroos now appear far less likely to sneak into Pot 2 of seeding for December 5's World Cup draw and are instead expected to land in Pot 3.

That would mean their group would have opponents from the top-ranked Pot 1, plus Pots 2 and 4.

Australia won't be able to skip a beat against world No.13 Colombia, wh

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