Played on a sub-standard pitch and in an eerie atmosphere that was the antithesis of last week’s cresendo in Kaiserslautern, it was more funereal than frenetic in Skopje on Tuesday (AEST).
But Jedinak quickly countered the notion that the Socceroos may have subconsciously entered the fray with the inner fires simmering rather than raging.
Asked if Australia had found it tough to get up for the game after drawing 2-2 with Germany in an engrossing spectacle it could easily have won in front of sell-out audience, he replied: “No. I don’t think that comes into question tonight.
“You still saw a committed performance from the lads. It was nothing to do with getting yourself up; you’re playing for your national team. There’s none of that.
“I didn’t see that out there. I think just we lacked a little bit of concentration at times. But that’s what sort of night it was, which was a little unfortunate because we would have liked to get the result... but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Pressed on where the vibrancy which had shaken Joachim Low’s side to its very core had gone, Jedinak explained: “I think it was a combination a few things, desperate defending by them when they wanted to get bodies behind the ball was one.
“You could also see that from the way they set up, and sometimes we taking an extra touch or a bad touch in that final third and that didn’t help.
“Maybe we were also not 100 per cent committed to the shot, but take nothing away from them the way they defended.
"They were resilient and they kept a clean sheet and I think they’re happy with that.”
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Lacking fluency and fluidity – to be expected to some degree as coach Ange Postecoglou made a raft of changes – Australia never got into its stride, with Jedinak adding: “It was not the result we wanted and not the performance we wanted either.
"Conditions had a lot to do with that. I think after starting the game so well, we had control of the game, and then we played their game.
“It wasn’t meant to be tonight. There are a lot of positives you can take but then again we’ve got a bit to work on from what we did tonight.
“The pitch wasn’t ideal, particularly the way we wanted to play, but I won’t use that as an excuse.
“It’s also down to them to being so resilient at the back and getting numbers behind the ball.”
Jedinak felt the Socceroos' “lack of patience"” was also a factor as they toiled to unlock a stubborn but hardly impregnable defence.
“We needed to be a little more patient at times and when we had the opening really go for it,” he said.
“That was lacking tonight. We need to take that on board moving forward because we all know we’re going to face these sorts of tactics in the future.
“We have done in the past and handled it, but we need to be able to deal with it all the time and that’s what I’m really looking forward to next time, that we really get on top of that and we don’t make the same mistakes.
