The Malaysia national squad arrived home in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday after their Oceania tour, concluding with Sunday's 1-1 draw with Fiji in Nadi.
At first glance, just one victory in three matches against lower-ranked opponents seems to represent an unsuccessful trip.
But here are five reasons why coach Ong Kim Swee was right to take Harimau Malaysia to the South Pacific:
1. Being forced to leave their comfort zone
Before the trip, most of the squad would have been hard pressed to point to Port Moresby, Noumea and Nadi on a world map.
The cities are remote and unfamiliar, with their own languages and culture.
So Malaysia's sometimes-pampered players were forced to adapt to a new environment and embrace three different nations in less than two weeks -- four nations, if you include their Brisbane training base in Australia.
The more people travel the better they become in adjusting to different conditions. In football, that can mean that teams can produce on-field levels on the road comparable to their home performances.
To make things even more challenging, Malaysia also didn't seem to get the rub of the green in terms of refereeing decisions.
After spending a few days in countries like Papua-New Guinea, trips to Myanmar and the Philippines won't seem as be so difficult to adjust to when the AFF Suzuki Cup rolls around in November.
2. Making most of Ramadan period
The fasting month marks a break in the Malaysian domestic season. The last Malaysia Super League games were played on May 21 while the Malaysia Cup doesn't begin until July 12.
That means that Malaysia's top players would have been without competitive action for almost seven weeks as most of Southeast Asia's other leagues continued as normal.
So, instead of a mostly inactive month football-wise during Ramadan, Harimau Malaysia have been working hard with daily trainings and matches.
This will also benefit their state and club sides when domestic action starts again in a couple of weeks.
And thanks to former Sabah striker Scott Ollerenshaw, who played Oceania World Cup qualifiers for his native Australia almost three decades ago, all the national team's travel arrangements -- including their Halal dietary needs while observing the fasting periods -- were taken care of.
Many of the squad were familiar with their training base of Southeast Queensland because that is where Harimau Muda A played in the state's National Premier League a couple of years ago. That was also organised by Ollerenshaw, with the help of countryman Gary Phillips, who is now Negeri Sembilan's head coach.
3. Coping without Safiq Rahim
Johor Darul Ta'zim talisman Safiq Rahim is arguably Malaysia's only player of international quality. The 28-year-old wears the captain's armband for both club and country but was forced out of the Oceania tour due to a thigh injury.
Without doubt, Malaysia have missed him in their last six international matches, including the two-legged AFC Asian Cup playoff against Timor-Leste. But it meant that they were able to try other players in his position, and from set pieces.
In his absence, Brendan Gan and Baddrol Bakhtiar worked well together in midfield, while Junior Eldstal played a great 70 minutes in the game against Fiji.
Set pieces were taken by Baddrol and Amri with the captain's armband worn by JDT defender Aidil Zafuan.
Too often, Malaysia have relied on Safiq's individual brilliance in matches. Indeed, six out of their 13 goals at the 2014 Suzuki Cup came from the ex-Selangor star.
No doubt, the Malaysians are much stronger when Safiq is leading them onto the park and he is a shoo-in to be skipper for the Suzuki Cup.
But the chance for other players to take leadership positions on the Oceania tour will benefit the squad in the long run.
4. Giving international exposure to rising stars
In a similar vein, the trip to the South Pacific provided opportunities for inexperienced players in other positions.
Remember, just two years ago, it was a bunch of veterans who overachieved to make the final of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup. The likes of Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Shukor Adan, Norshahrul Idlan and Safee Sali were part of the team who went ever so close to upsetting Thailand in the final in what was effectively their international swansong.
But, since then, the onus has been on Malaysia to develop new talent. The advantage of appointing Ong as national boss was his long time involvement with the youngsters of Harimau Muda programme. Of course, he was a Southeast Asian Games (SEA) Games winner in 2011.
While the Oceania tour didn't unearth any major stars, it did give valuable international exposure to emerging youngsters like S. Kumaahran and Amirul Awang Kechik and saw the likes of Brendan Gan, Aidil, Fadhli Shas and S. Kunanlan mature as players.
They will now be better equipped to handle the pressure of the 2016 Suzuki Cup, and for the younger ones, the 2017 SEA Games on home soil as well.
5. Building team spirit
Malaysian football's all-time nadir came 20 months ago when they went through three different goalkeepers before suffering a record 10-0 defeat to the United Arab Emirates in the second round of 2018 AFC World Cup qualifying.
The Abu Dhabi humiliation came after 6-0 defeats earlier that year to Oman and Palestine and led to the departure of coach Dollah Salleh.
The appointment of Ong, and the coaching team of Brad Maloney and Kris Yong, didn't turn a poor side into worldbeaters overnight, but it at least reinstated some semblance of fighting spirit. The integration of so-called mixed heritage players like Gan, Matthew Davies and Khair Jones -- alongside the already established Junior Eldstal -- added more of a defensive backbone.
While the narrow defeat to Papua-New Guinea was disappointing, Malaysia did show good qualities to come from a goal down to beat New Caledonia on June 22 and match it with a Fijian side who have qualified for the Rio Olympics at U23 level.
In a largely Rugby-focused region, Ong spoke about the challenge on trip of playing opponents who were physically stronger, bigger and faster, on pitches that were a long way from perfect. He also stressed the importance of the squad building camaraderie off the field. In all, they have been together for more than a month when you include pre-tour preparations at FAM headquarters in Kelana Jaya.
It is hoped that the Oceania tour has been a kind of South Pacific boot camp that will be remembered as an important building block in Malaysia's 2016 Suzuki Cup campaign.