The ninth-ranked Matildas beat South Korea 1-0 in an away friendly in Incheon on Sunday, courtesy of a 68th-minute strike from Kyah Simon. The match was likely the side's final encounter before February's Asian qualifying tournament for Rio, which is being held in Japan.

Stajcic said the week the Matildas spent in Korea was vital ahead of what are expected to be difficult conditions during the tournament.

"It's been a bit of a challenge with the weather, been snowing and very cold but training's been really good, it's probably the best training week we've had post-World Cup, which has been good," Stajcic told Fairfax Media from Korea.

The side dealt with freezing conditions, and snow, during their stint in Incheon. Nevertheless, Stajcic was pleased with how his side performed against the team placed 17th in the FIFA standings, saying it was the Matildas' best showing since they made the quarter-finals of this year's World Cup in Canada. "I think our performance today reflected an improved training environment and an improved effort," he said.

Stajcic described the sense of relief at no longer being encumbered by the pay dispute that led to a boycott of the trip to the US. The industrial tension ended after Football Federation Australia and the Professional Footballers Association reached a new collective bargaining agreement earlier in November.

"It was brilliant actually. We've got to move on from that now. That's done and dusted and the contracts are all done so we've just got to push forward and focus on the big picture, and that's qualifying for Rio which we haven't done since 2004. So it's a big challenge and we've got to really focus on our training and football to get there," he said.

But there is a sense of unknown about what awaits in February. "We have no idea what the pitches will be like in Japan at the end of winter. This was the beginning of winter so the pitch was pretty good. It was raining today and freezing cold. So I'm anticipating similar conditions."

Stajcic added that midfielder Sam Kerr would be given "every chance" to make the squad for the tournament after sustaining a serious foot injury earlier this month. The blow ended the Perth Glory star's W-League season.

The coach was also impressed by the showing of Canberra United forward Caitlin Munoz, whose appearance against Korea was her first for the national team in five years.

"She did really well. We were only going to play her for a small period of the game today, because she played 90 minutes the other day in a training game, but she backed up really well today and got through 90 minutes, and was probably my second or third pick in our time," he said. "An outstanding performance, [she] certainly put her hand up to be in the reckoning come February."