After years of decorated participation at the Olympics, the under-23 side bombed spectacularly three years ago, failing to score a single goal in the final stage of qualifying, finishing last in a group that also contained the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Iraq.

Despite that failure, Vidmar remains in the job and has been tasked with making sure the Olyroos make it through to Rio, where the football tournament promises to be a highlight of the event.

But to have any shot of making it to Rio, the Olyroos must first navigate their way through an intense, four-team qualification group over the next five days in Kaohsiung City in Taiwan - playing three games 48 hours apart - to earn a spot in the Asian under-23 championships in Qatar next January. The top three teams in that tournament will qualify for 2016.

The Olyroos start with Hong Kong on Friday, hosts Chinese Taipei two days later and then Myanmar on March 31. Vidmar admitted the pressure was on to ensure the side fared much better this time around.

"I know deep down in the back of my mind that we didn't qualify and that's a huge disappointment, but all that does is give you extra motivation to qualify this time," he said from the team hotel. "But there's no easy path and nobody has the magic wand to say 'We're Australia, we're going to qualify' - it's just a hard slog. Now there's only three teams that qualify from Asia, not four as there was previously. So you've got to be right at the top of your game, to the last minute to ensure you get a positive result."

One of the problems with the last campaign was that Vidmar could scarcely get his hands on the glut of eligible players plying their trade outside the A-League. The coach is concerned it may well be an issue should the Olyroos progress to the championships in Qatar.

"That last campaign had many issues with getting the overseas-based players because those [qualification] games were on non-FIFA dates. If we get through this stage and on to January, then that poses another issue with those games not being on FIFA dates," he said. "We're relying now on a 50-50 split with A-League players and the overseas-based players and I'd like to keep it that way. But come January, if we qualify, that could pose another situation."

The Olyroos might be expected to progress from this week's mini-tournament but Asian football has seen region-wide bolstering of junior football in recent years with quick results. Myanmar, for example, recently qualified for this year's under-20 World Cup - which Australia failed to make.

"There's a lot of nations in this area now putting money into development and a lot of them are going into full-time programs, so they're together day-in, day-out all season," Vidmar said. "On paper it might look easy but they're never easy assignments and you've got to go out there and pay the utmost respect to these teams. But we also want to play in our way and our style."

As the Socceroos continue to impress at senior level, drawing 2-2 with world champions Germany on Thursday morning, the Olyroos have been mandated to follow Ange Postecoglou's coaching style, albeit without sacrificing results.

"I think it fits hand-in-hand. We need to go along the path of educating these guys in how we think the game should be played," Vidmar said. "But at the same time we have to be mindful that we have to get results as well. Qualifying for the Olympics is a huge priority."

While Vidmar was pleased enough with the team hotel and the match-day stadium in Kaohsiung, the training venue handed to the Olyroos has left him somewhat underwhelmed.

"In these areas you've always got those issues. It's not ideal training facilities but the players have been around this situation many, many times," he said. "They accept [that] it is what it is in these areas and the mentality is perfect. The stadium is fantastic and the surface is no worse than what we played on during previous tournaments."