The country has had an up and down relationship with the continental competition ever since the first appearance back in 2007 but this past year was the worst.

Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC are the two biggest Australian clubs and have appeared in Asia more times than any of their domestic competitors.

Yet their record, in a season when the country needed a good showing if there was going to be a chance of retaining two automatic places in the group stage from 2021 onwards, was abysmal.

Melbourne - a team that should be one of the biggest in Asia - lost five games and drew the other to finish with a goal difference of minus 13.

Such ineptness was impossible for Sydney to match - though the Sky Blues did their best.

Again, there were no wins with just three of the six ending in defeats and the other three finishing in draws.

In a combined total of 12 games, Australia drew four and lost eight and ended with a goal difference of minus 19.

It was a shocking performance. There can be no complaints that Thailand have taken one of the A-League’s automatic spots for 2021, the country takes the tournament very seriously.

It came not long after the Asian Cup. The Socceroos at least managed to pick up a victory in the United Arab Emirates, though it started badly with a loss to Jordan.

Subsequent wins over Palestine and Syria sent Graham Arnold’s men to the knockout stage. A penalty shootout triumph over Uzbekistan earned a quarter-final appearance against hosts UAE, where a goal from Ali Mabkhout sent the defending champions - who went on to lose 4-0 to eventual champions Qatar - home.

Australia failed to score in three of their five games despite having plenty of possession. The passing was easy on the eye but against teams that defended in numbers, it was all a little predictable.

The Socceroos looked to be a team struggling to find an identity.

The second half was happier.

Australia end 2019 with a perfect record in qualification for the 2022 World Cup. The search for an identity may be a work in progress but the national team has shown it can go to difficult places and get a result.

Naturally there were big wins against Nepal and Taiwan but the trip to Kuwait and the 3-0 victory was more comfortable than expected and almost the perfect away performance in Asia.

Then came Jordan. Amman is a place where more celebrated Socceroos sides have come unstuck in the past.

But then Adam Taggart struck early and Australia were not going to let that lead slip. Those hard-won three points means that the path to the next stage really should be a comfortable one.

Taggart likes to score in Asia. The striker left Brisbane Roar for Suwon Bluewings in the K League 1.

It was not the best of seasons for the Korean powerhouse but that just made Taggart even more of a star as he finished on top of the goalscoring charts with 20.

The K League 1 is not the easiest place to score goals, especially for a player in his first season. It was an incredible achievement.

Scoring goals may be hard for a K League newbie but Ange Postecoglou in Japan is on a whole different level.

The former Socceroos boss took over Yokohama F. Marinos and flirted with relegation in 2018, but this year, he helped them win the title.

And did so in style, playing entertaining and expansive football, the likes of which has rarely been seen in Asia.

Almost as pleasing as the football was the reaction and interest of fans and media down under.

Never has there been such an interest in Asian goings-on.

It meant that after an indifferent start for Australia in Asian football, 2019 ended with an injury-time winner and there's plenty more to come next year.