Williams' fears were realised yesterday when he was one of five players to have been cut from Verbeek's squad for this month's finals in South Africa.
The Middlesbrough midfielder was unable to prove his fitness to the Australia camp, having ended the season with a pelvic problem which he had played through a number of matches with.
Verbeek is disgusted to have learned the 21-year-old had been playing with in such circumstances with a potential World Cup appearance on the horizon.
But Strachan, after the Socceroos' medical team had been in regular contact with their counterparts on Teesside last month, has refuted accusations he is to blame.
We as a club and I personally strongly object to being made scapegoats by Mr Verbeek.
I know it's a stressful time for him but he needs to get his facts right, said Strachan.
The truth of the matter is we only ever did what we believed was right for the player's long-term future and he only played when he and our medical team agreed he was fit to do so.
We were always conscious of the World Cup and the fact that Rhys would want to be involved.
We gave him every opportunity to recover from his injury in mid-season. After that, each time Rhys played it was because he himself was happy to play.
Mr Verbeek told us he was happy with the player's performances for the club and the Australia physio guaranteed me Rhys would be fit for their first game. The fact he isn't fully fit is very unfortunate but it's simply wrong to try to lay the blame at our door.
Strachan was sympathetic towards another of his players missing out on the World Cup, after striker Scott Mc- Donald had already been omitted from a squad that includes Boro goalkeeper Brad Jones.
And he felt forced to react after Verbeek had indicated his belief that Middlesbrough were completely responsible for the situation Williams finds himself in.
He trained without confidence - he could never train fully, he's not free to play and his recovery is not quick enough to make it, said Verbeek, due to step down after the finals. I'm disappointed he will not be in the 23.
Gordon Strachan let him play for weeks with an injury.
Gordon Strachan let him play with an injection every game.
If you do that with a 20-yearold you take a risk.
I'm 100 per cent sure if they had given him the normal treatment for a player, he should be in the World Cup.
But Boro's head of medical Grant Downie refuted the claims that Williams had been expected to play with painkilling injections in every game.
He received two injections into the pelvic area, one in late January when he wasn't playing, and the other towards the end of the season.
Both were to help the problem settle down, not to allow Rhys to play in the next game, insisted Downie.
He also received two prematch anti-inflammatory injections that were the equivalent of taking an oral anti-inflammatory tablet.
Such injections are very common for footballers to receive.
Neither Middlesbrough Football Club nor the medical department that I lead would ever do anything to endanger a player's health.
Williams, who earned the first of three Australia caps in June 2009 after turning his back on Wales, said: I'm hartbroken.
I'm happy with myself, it just wasn't meant to be this year for me.
I have been struggling for a long time, but the Socceroos coaching staff gave me every possible chance to be fit. I'm looking to working out a plan with the physios.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo