EMILY van Egmond will be out to make it third time lucky and the Novocastrian has no hesitation in saying the Matildas are "going to the Asian Cup to win".
Having played in back-to-back losing finals, after just missing Australia's breakthrough title in 2010, van Egmond is keen to get across the line this time around.
Van Egmond, who recently wrapped up a short stint playing with hometown club the Newcastle Jets, remains confident the national women's squad can put COVID distractions behind them when the tournament gets under way in India later this month.
The Matildas departed over the weekend destined for a training camp in Dubai before pool matches in Mumbai against Indonesia (January 21), Philippines (January 24) and Thailand (January 27).
"Personally I feel pretty good. Obviously I was fortunate enough to be within a team environment and get some games under my belt right before new year, which has been really good for me," van Egmond told the Newcastle Herald.
"As a team, we're going to the Asian Cup to win. We have a pre-camp in Dubai, then we head over to India and by then we'll be in tournament mode.
"It's a bit of a difficult time right now with everything going on the world. Hopefully once we get to Dubai and kind of get in our own bubble we can shift our focus to what lies ahead."
Van Egmond and former Jets player Clare Wheeler were two of 25 players named in the Matildas' travelling squad.
The 28-year-old midfielder, who has been capped 112 times, debuted in 2010.
She was part of the preliminary squad for that year's Asian Cup, but didn't make the final cut with Australia eventually beating North Korea in the decider.
Van Egmond has since made appearances in Asian Cup deciders against Japan, going down 1-0 in both 2014 and 2018.
The upcoming Asian Cup marks the start of a new tournament cycle for the Matildas, with Australia helping to host next year's World Cup followed by the Paris Olympics in 2024.
It comes after falling one win short of an Olympic medal in Tokyo at last year's postponed Games, finishing fourth and recording the nation's best-ever result.
"We've got the Asian Cup now and the rest of this year with FIFA windows," van Egmond said.
"It's exciting times ahead with the 2023 World Cup, which is coming up quick, and then Olympic qualifiers straight off the back of that.
"It's kind of how it goes with the football calendar anyway, being pretty back to back, but there's not as much downtime because the postponed Olympics made it a quicker turnaround.
"It gives us something to look forward to over the next few years."
The Matildas played four international friendlies at home against Brazil and USA throughout October and November - recording one win, two draws and a loss.
Van Egmond has represented Australia four times at McDonald Jones Stadium.
She helped the Jets, who now sit equal fifth on the ladder, collect a valuable seven competition points from her three A-League Women's outings last month.
