“And Aaron Mooy hopefully is back in the Premier League next season if he can get a move. And Mat Leckie is a senior player.

“Also, the likes of an Awer Mabil, Chris Ikonomidis, it’s time for them to really make a name for themselves and step out of the shadows of one of those big names of the past and become that focal point of the side," said the now-retired Cornthwaite. 

However, he cautioned that January’s Asian Cup highlighted some of this squad’s shortcomings.

“There could be a few lessons learned along the way,” warned Cornthwaite, capped seven times by his nation.

“The Asian Cup last January was probably a fail in terms of how it ended, and we have some work to do in terms of the lack of goals.

“But Adam Taggart being on fire in Korea is obviously encouraging as the guy to lead the line.

“In saying that some of the lesser teams in Asia have really improved during the last cycle.

“It’s the first stage of qualifying so avoiding those big guns in Pot 1 is good, and though there are some difficult sides in the other groups, I feel more than comfortable that we’ll get out of this group.

“Then the real test comes.”

These second-round qualifiers also serve as Asian Cup 2023 China qualification.

They kick off in September.

Group winners go through to the final stage of group qualifiers, with top two qualifying automatically. 

Cornthwaite added: “Let’s not forget, Australia has been in Asia for about 13 years, so nothing should come as a surprise.

“We should be more than well prepared.

“And with the FFA largely now concentrating on national teams rather than the A-League, there should be no excuse.”