It was meant to be the perfect warm up for the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, but instead the Matildas' AFC Women's Asian Cup campaign ended in "disaster" on Sunday.
After winning all three of their group games, including an 18-0 win over Indonesia, Tony Gustavsson's side entered their quarter-final against South Korea with plenty of confidence.
But questionable refereeing, poor finishing and a late stunner from Ji So-yun saw the Matildas suffer a surprise 1-0 defeat.
Australia won the AFC Asian Cup in 2010 before making the past two finals and had never previously exited the AFC Asian Cup so early.
The result highlights how much improvement is still needed before the World Cup next year with pressure now mounting on coach Gustavsson.
The Swede was appointed in September 2020 but results have been far from encouraging as he lost his first three games in charge and has since claimed victory just six times from his 19 matches at the helm.
While Gustavsson has previously placed the importance of team performances above results, the Asian Cup was seen as the place where wins would be prioritised to ensure the side could claim silverware.
That plan didn't go to script, however, with football pundit Andy Harper scathing in his assessment of the Matildas' performance at the tournament following their premature exit.
"It's a disaster and it's a failure. He (Gustavsson) backed himself into a corner in my opinion going to this tournament with a full-strength squad - the best in Asia - and he needed to win it," Harper said on Channel 10's post-match coverage of the South Korea defeat.
"Anything less than a final is totally unacceptable with this squad because it's the cost-benefit analysis. It's the players you haven't given experience to at international level to build the talent pool for the big prize which is the World Cup in 2023.
"The Asian Cup needed to be a part of that journey, not an end point, and either Tony Gustavsson treated the Asian Cup as an end point or his employers insisted he treat it as an end point rather than part of the process.
"It's come down in a smouldering heap and it's an utter disaster."
Steph Catley captained the Matildas against South Korea in her 100th international match and conceded the team must find a way to perform better at major tournaments.
Australia finished fourth at the recent Tokyo Olympics with their last piece of silverware dating back to early 2019 when they won the Cup of Nations.
"This is where we need to be better. We're a team of world-class players and we keep coming up short in moments like this," Catley said post-match.
"We've just got to learn from it. That's what you do in situations like this, you just learn and move on to the next one.
"As a team we have to be dominant in these situations and put these games to bed when we're in control."
Gustavsson felt the quarter-final defeat was largely the result of poor finishing from the Matildas, who took 15 shots compared to South Korea's seven but only got two of those efforts on target - one less than their opponents.
Big chance for Kerr...but it hits the post!
— 10 Football (@10FootballAU) January 30, 2022
🇦🇺 0-0 🇰🇷 #AUSvKOR #WAC2022 pic.twitter.com/jHzJxgd8Uj
But the Swedish coach was also quick to accept responsibility for the loss as fans made their opinions clear on social media.
“I take full ownership of the result tonight. I think criticising me is fair and to criticise me for things I could’ve done better,” Gustavsson said in his post-match press conference..
"Personally, I am very disappointed for the loss and so are the players.
"Obviously there is some things we could have done better tonight, including myself. In terms of the effort, the players gave 100% and I can’t complain.
"We were prepared for a very well organised and hardworking team. We had prepared that this would be a very, very tight game.
"I think the players stayed in the game and knew exactly what to do. We knew how difficult it was going to be to create clear chances against Korea and we had six chances that we would have scored on. Unfortunately, the conversion wasn’t there today."
With a Women's World Cup on home soil fast approaching, the Matildas must find their edge in tough games soon or face even greater disappointment in front of expectant fans come 2023.