Ghosts of the past hung over the Matildas' Asian Cup win against Thailand

«A little reminder to everyone here what happened against Thailand at the last tournament …»

Tony Gustavsson's comment – and all its dark, traumatising memories – hung heavily in the air during his pre-tournament press conference.

How could we forget?

Of all the crucial Asian Cup matches the Matildas have ever played – the loss to China on penalties in the 2006 final, the victory over North Korea to lift the trophy in 2010, the heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Japan in the dying minutes of 2018 – there is one game more than any other that lingers like a spectre over Australia's major tournament history.

The 2018 semifinal against Thailand.

It was the beginning of some sort of end for the Matildas, the drawing back of a curtain, the laying bare of the doubts and fractures that had been lingering just behind their shiny surface.

Australia sailed into that tournament on a wave of public adoration. They'd won the inaugural Tournament of Nations towards the end of 2017, which included their first-ever defeat of reigning world champions USA. They eased past their main Asian rivals, Japan, too, with Sam Kerr scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 win.

A series of celebratory demolitions of Brazil and China followed, with the Matildas scoring 19 goals in five games and conceding just five. It was, in many ways, a golden period for this «golden generation» of players that climbed to fourth on the world rankings under former head coach, Alen Stajcic.

But then cracks started to appear.

In early 2018, Australia flew to Portugal to participate in the Algarve Cup. An opening 4-3 win over Norway — which would avenge the loss by knocking the Matildas out of the Women's World Cup the following year — preceded a string of underwhelming performances, including a