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THE last plane out of Oceania was a fraught journey for new Australian coach Guus Hiddink, who has returned to his "proper" job at club level wondering whether a third World Cup fairytale will elude him.
The Socceroos' narrow victory over the Solomon Islands on Tuesday was an eye-opener for the Dutchman in more ways than one.
When he sits on the bench at the sumptuous Philips Stadion this weekend to watch his PSV Eindhoven entertain FC Utrecht in a Dutch league match, his fleeting journey to the South Pacific may seem like a dream.
A bad dream, too, judging by his after-match reaction. After taking the Netherlands and South Korea to the last four of the past two World Cups, Hiddink has serious reservations about whether he can get Australia through the door. "If we play like that in November (in the South American play-offs), it will be mission impossible," he said.
A 9-1 aggregate victory in the Oceania play-offs looks convincing enough, but in the eyes of the coaching staff it has raised more questions than answers.
Hiddink is accustomed to working with players of the highest quality and sets his standards accordingly. After a four-day training camp and his first two competitive matches, it is dawning on Hiddink that the Socceroos may not be as good as he thought.
Most of all, the tactical intelligence which is second nature to Dutch players remains an elusive quality within the Australian team. Hiddink changed formations and positions during the two matches against the Solomon Islands, and it was obvious some could not absorb his instructions.
That Hiddink spent most of the flight from Honiara analysing DVDs with assistants Graham Arnold and Ron Smith suggests it will be back to the drawing board when the squad reassembles for next month's camp.
A few reputations might have been dented. For the likes of Josip Skoko, Tony Popovic, Stan Lazaridis, Tim Cahill, Marco Bresciano and even Mark Viduka, these matches have left them with plenty to prove to the coach.
There were some winners from the Oceania sojourn. There is little doubt fringe candidates such as Jason Culina, Archie Thompson and Vince Grella are applying the sort of pressure that every serious World Cup contender needs inside the dressing-room.
Indeed, Hiddink's bleak portrayal of events in Honiara may also be self-serving. Given that the squad is intrinsically not good enough to qualify for the World Cup, then the greatest room for improvement lies in the mental state of the players.
Hiddink is playing mind games, partly through the media, in an effort to sharpen the focus, motivation and determination of the squad in the hope it might be the difference in getting Australia over the line in November.
It's smart thinking, because to get to Germany, the Socceroos will certainly have to exceed the sum of their parts.
The psychology started within seconds of the final whistle at the Lawson Tama Stadium. Hiddink let rip at his players through the media, and the players put their heads down in response. Asked what was wrong with the performance, goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac replied: "Everything."
It has become clear that Hiddink's word is now law. If the gaffer's not happy, no one is. The players will jump through flaming hoops if he tells them to. And to get to the World Cup, they may have to.
