The 16-team tournament gets under way at Rectangular Stadium (AAMI Park) when Ange Postecoglou's men face Kuwait on Friday.
The home team goes into the event with plenty of hope and expectation but not much in the shape of form and results.
A new-look side trying to get to grips with an expansive game under an avante-garde coach is finding it hard to put runs on the board.
Its form is patchy and it has won only twice in 12 matches since respected Postecoglou took over the reins just over a year ago.
No one is quite sure how far this team will go.
Yet what will shape the team's future, with special emphasis on the forthcoming qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, is not necessarily how it plays in the Asian Cup but how it handles the pressure of home expectation and grow as a competitive football team and boy, will they be under pressure when the first whistle is blown in Melbourne on Friday.
Forget the World Cup where nobody expected the Socceroos to win a match in a horrible group featuring Chile, Netherlands and Spain.
This time the Socceroos are expected to see off Kuwait, Oman and Korea Republic in Group A and reach the semi-finals as a bare minimum and if they fail to do so their campaign will be seen as a failure.
That's pressure for you.
Which is why the Socceroos need to get off to a strong start against the Kuwaitis and set themselves up for the rest of the tournament, where they will play up to six 'cup finals' in three weeks, provided they reach the last match of the tournament on 31 January in Sydney.
The Kuwait clash will be tight, nervous and uncompromising as such opening games in major tournaments involving the home team usually are.
"Teams are going to want to do well against the host nation and we have to expect that in every game but for me the pass mark is to get through the first game," Australia captain Mile Jedinak has said.
Postecoglou's team is aiming to win the Asian Cup and do it in style but I'm sure that, just for this opening game, he won't lose any sleep if his Socceroos won unconvincingly.
He will tell the boys that they should treat this is just another match that needs to be won.
But he knows that it is often hard to legislate for the mental side of things because players are only human and not machines and nerves play a big part in sport and all the pressures that go with it.
Which is why the Socceroos' toughest battle in the tournament will be to overcome the 'burden' of being the home team.
Spain could not handle it well in the 1982 World Cup and neither did Brazil six months ago.
The Australians failed to live up to expectations in the 2007 Asian Cup and performed well below their best after making the world sit up and take notice a year earlier in Germany.
Pressure, however, does not have to be a negative factor.
Most players will tell you they would rather have a crowd behind them than against them.
Many players and teams have been known to thrive on pressure or shut it out and brilliant careers have been forged on the back of a stirring performance in a major tournament.
Remember the free-spirited Netherlands team that treated its first ever World Cup participation in 1974 like a party and reached the final?
Remember young Michael Owen who took the world by storm in the 1998 World Cup with his fearless approach that made him an instant celebrity?
Remember the focussed Socceroos who kept their heads in those titanic clashes with Uruguay in Montevideo and Sydney in 2005 when so much was riding on the World Cup playoff?
When today's Socceroos take on the cream of Asia this month in their attempt to win their first silverware since joining the Asian Football Confederation, they will have a rare chance to rewrite history which in itself should provide them with a massive incentive.
Midfielder Matt McKay has called it 'a once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity.
The Socceroos' recent form might not fill them or their fans with supreme confidence but if the chosen players manage to deal with the demands of home expectation and perform as best as they can in trying circumstances, they will give themselves an excellent chance of prevailing.
An assertive showing in the Asian Cup would set them up nicely for the race to Russia, too.
