The Socceroos begin their walk along another tightrope to qualify for football's showpiece competition.
In their match against Japan in late August, the team knew a draw would get them to Russia automatically.
Then, against Thailand a few days later, they were confident a heavy win would see them through on goal difference.
But, after neither of those matches followed the script, the Socceroos are beginning to exhaust their last best chances for qualifying for a fourth consecutive World Cup.
Now Australia needs to reach football’s global showpiece the hard way - by treading a similar path as the class of 2005 - Nail biting, edge of the seat, playoff style football.
Tim Cahill is the only member of the current Socceroos squad who was involved in the two playoff matches against Uruguay 12 years ago, now etched into Australian sporting folklore, which sealed qualification for the 2006 World Cup.
"It brings back some memories," Cahill recalled.
"But the biggest thing for us is just embracing this challenge of having to come to Malaysia to play Syria. We’re under no illusions. It’s going to be a tough game."
A first-leg win in Malacca tonight would go some way to easing the collective jitters afflicting the Australian football community at the prospect of missing out on Russia.
There is now a generation of young players and fans who wouldn’t know a time when Australia hadn’t qualified for the World Cup – so long ago seem those dark days of quadrennial disappointment – and older generations utterly fearful of returning to those days.
But spirits should be high, if the mood in Socceroos camp is anything to go by.
The players and staff are quietly confident of getting a result against the Syrians and of progressing to the next gauntlet, another two-legged playoff, this time against the fourth-placed nation from North and Central America.
"It’s a cut-throat time. If we don’t win over these two games, we’re out. Yes, you’d want to go through in the group (stages), but you have to understand how difficult it is to qualify and how ruthless these qualifying stages can be for us," said Cahill.
"We really want to dictate the game tomorrow and stay the way we have in every game. We want to dominate the ball and we want to win. We want to take them back to Australia in a few days and finish the job off properly."
Several of Australia’s big names come into the match in goal-scoring form, giving Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou confidence his side can dominate Syria on a pitch that’s expected to be slow and in conditions likely to be hot, humid and sticky.
"In these types of conditions they tend to be slower tempo games and most of the games Syria have been involved in have been a slower tempo,” Postecolgou said.
“We obviously like to play at a higher tempo and that’s been our challenge throughout the whole World Cup qualifying campaign."
"We’re at that point now where the players have pretty much experienced the whole gamut of what a World Cup qualifying process means. Both when things go well and when things don’t go well, when conditions are against you, even the disappointment of not qualifying directly. It all adds to the growth of the team."
"We will be up for the fight and with the experience behind us we will be able to overcome it."
