If Thursday evening's clash with Japan represented a test for the Matildas, an opportunity to learn where they stood against Asia's best side, then consider this a lesson very harshly learned. Across all facets of their 4-0 win at Shell Energy Stadium, Nadeshiko Japan was dominant, imposing their will to the extent that not even the nominally neutral ground announcer at the stadium could shy away from describing it as such. A year out from hosting the Asian Cup, the gap that exists between themselves and the tournament's favourites was laid bare, and the sense of urgency surrounding the need to properly begin to build towards that tournament only grew.
This was a game in which Japan had scored four times before the Matildas even fashioned a shot - Charli Grant hitting the bar in the 87th minute after interim coach Tom Sermanni had effectively emptied his bench - and ultimately sent in 18 attempts to that one, eight of which were on target. It was a game in which Japan was the first to almost every ball, the winner of almost every contest, and the better technical, tactical, and physical outfit. It was a game in which, again, defensive lapses haunted the Australians at critical moments, putting them in a hole they couldn't climb out of. Above all else, it was a game in which we saw a Matildas outfit that looked bereft of ideas or unable to execute them, left shellshocked as their opponents dictated terms, both with and without the ball.
Befitting their status as Asia's best, Japan was nearly irresistible, at times going minutes at a time without allowing their opponents to get a touch on the ball. Their third goal in particular, slicing and dicing their way through the Australian defence with a series of surgical passes before Mina Tanaka, who herself had a brace, set up Maika Hamano was champagne football. They're the standard bearers in the region for a reason and, on Thursday, an Australian side with designs on that moniker was put down. You come at the queen, you best not miss.
"We just didn't get close to Japan," said Sermanni. "They were just outstanding. Sometimes you have to sit back and say, we were just played off the field today, and that's what we were. They were quicker to every ball. They kept possession fantastically. When we tried to press, they broke out the press. When we sat back, they managed to play through it.
"Sometimes you have one of those games, and I'd like to be able to sit here and give you X, Y and Z, why it happened. But in reality, they were just very, very good today, and we were a bit off.
"Probably the most disappointing thing was, even despite that, I just felt some of the goals that we gave up were very poor, and that's kind of un-Australian. We want to be a team that's hard to beat and to be honest, today we gave up some soft goals.
After a result such as this, it feels almost unhelpful to go searching for positives or building blocks for coming games against the United States and Colombia. They come across almost like fig leaves, distracting from the lessons that need to be taken from such a comprehensive defeat at a critical juncture for a continental showpiece. Because while heavy defeats in friendlies aren't exactly a new phenomenon for this side, the justifications of experimentation or rotation can't be applied this time around, the Matildas XI close to full strength and Japan entering the game with just one friendly under their belt since the Olympics. Though the plan had always been to rotate the squad through the SheBelieves Cup, Sermanni hinted post-game that further reshuffles would result based upon performances against Japan, repercussions for a heavy defeat and unacceptable performance.
"It was a pretty huge wake-up call," said Sermanni. "It was one of those games where we were outplayed, basically from the start straight to the finish in every department. We were outplayed football-wise. We were outplayed physically. We were outplayed mentally. Outplayed on our decision making.
"There weren't a lot of positive things to take away from today's performance. I suppose a positive thing is now it gives us a check to say, come this time next year when we're just about going into. Asian Cup. What do we need to do to beat teams like Japan?"
The wake-up call, however, cannot just be for the Matildas. Whereas both Australia and Japan opted to not offer Tony Gustavsson and Futoshi Ikeda contract extensions following the Paris Olympics, Norio Sasaki's interim stint in charge of Nadeshiko covered just a singular game last October, with Nils Nielsen appointed last December and taking place in the dugout in Houston. The SheBelieves Cup, in contrast, will see Sermanni's interim stint stretch to nine games, seven of which have been against sides ranked in the top 25 in the world.
Whereas Japan is now beginning to build upon an already impressively high base under Nielsen, the Matildas continue to exist in something of a holding pattern under an interim coach. Sermanni can't be blamed for this, he's done the job that an interim would be expected to do very well, stabilising the group after a disappointing Paris Olympics and getting them looking to the future. But both he and the side remain in the dark about just how long he'll be in place before a coach, with an increasingly short runway before the Asian Cup, arrives and starts to put their stamp on things. Football Australia has consistently said they have time to make sure they get their appointment of a new coach right but, as the rest of the world accelerates into the future, it looks as if they're leaving the Matildas increasingly spinning their wheels.