As the game of cat-and-mouse between Australia and Uruguay gathers momentum ahead of the first leg of the play-offs at the MCG tomorrow night, one thing is clear: the hosts know they need to win the game to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the finals in Japan and South Korea next year, while Uruguay know a draw - preferably a score draw - will probably be good enough.
History, though, has shown Farina the path he must take. While he talks of being satisfied if the first leg ends 0-0, of how the play-offs may not be decided until the final stages of the return leg in Montevideo, and of how the Socceroos have no need to "bomb forward" in Melbourne, Farina also knows it is time Australia made something of home advantage.
In eight campaigns going back to 1969 (see panel), the Socceroos have consistently failed when it counts - before their own fans. As ex-Socceroo skipper Johnny Warren is fond of saying, until Australia learn to win at home, consistently qualifying for the World Cup will be a pipe dream.
And even if Farina has not bothered to consult the record books, he knows this national team's destiny is likely to be decided tomorrow night.
The Estadio Centenario in Montevideo has been something of a fortress for Uruguay during the past two years, while the MCG has not. To go to Montevideo next weekend without the protection of a win may well mean another cup campaign ends in tears.
So, Australia's task is clear - even if it not simple - they need to break down one of the meanest defences in world soccer, preferably without conceding a goal. Indeed, Farina admitted last week that he would gladly sign off on a 1-0 win before a ball was kicked.
Farina does have the benefit of a real insight into the way the Uruguay play: he travelled to Montevideo last month to watch their qualifying match against Colombia, and since then has gathered a treasure trove of videos to fine-tune a game plan built around penetration down the flanks.
Uruguay coach Victor Pua is, of course, no mug. He will have as much information about Australia as Farina has about his team. Hence, the closed training sessions from both squads recently, muted media conferences and even the "dummy" run of training games on the few occasions when observers were in the stands.
Uruguay, for instance, concentrated on playing the offside trap at their open session on Saturday night - a tactic quite alien to the way they have played throughout the qualifying campaign. The Socceroos trained in public that day, and when he was asked yesterday if he was worried there might have been Uruguayan "spies" in the stands, Farina replied: "There might have been, but they wouldn't have learned too much."
So, how will the game pan out?
Uruguay, we can assume with some authority, are likely to play with just one striker, either Javier Chevanton or Frederico Magallanes filling in for the injured Dario Silva. In behind will be the team's best player, playmaker Alvaro Recoba, with Nicolas Olivera perhaps alongside him in support.
In terms of Uruguayan attacking intent, that's likely to be it. Gonzalo de los Santos and Pablo Garcia will anchor the midfield, rarely venturing over the halfway line.
Out wide, Washington Tais and Gianni Guigou are the nominal wingbacks, but indications are that if one of them pushes forward, the other will sit in to make sure Uruguay - at all times - have four players in the last line. Veteran Paolo Montero is the defensive linchpin, with Alejandro Lembo and Dario Rodriguez his deputies in protecting the goal of Fabian Carini.
It is a disciplined, counter-attacking side, heavily reliant on Recoba - the classical No10 - going forward, and which not only defends deep but in numbers.
Uruguay's problems in scoring can possibly be attributed to two things: they lack genuine pace and, with up to 60m between the last line and the front line, they struggle to get enough players inside the penalty box.
However, if the Socceroos are unlikely to be under sustained pressure in front of their own goal - despite his respect for Recoba, Farina is unlikely to assign him a marker - the onus tomorrow night will be to create momentum at the other end.
With that in mind, Farina has been working heavily on set-pieces and crosses, with Stan Lazaridis the dead-ball specialist in wide positions, and either Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell or Josip Skoko the options in the middle of the park.
Farina is encouraged by Australia having scored four times in such circumstances during the past six months - three of those goals coming in the air, an area where the Socceroos will have a noticeable height advantage over Uruguay.
From open play, the Australian focus has been in trying to get either Lazaridis or Brett Emerton into the corners, from where the service to Viduka and Kewell is likely to come. Skoko will be encouraged to make his trademark late runs into the penalty area to lend support.
Not much tinkering has to be done with a Socceroo defence which has consistently proved its mettle this year, leaving the burden to fall where it belongs: on the shoulders of Australia's attacking players.
In that context, Kewell, who is likely to start up front before being shifted out wide after half-time, looms as the man most likely to unlock the miserly Uruguayans, although Viduka is also primed for the game of his life after a subdued effort against France.
This, in the simplest terms, is a game Australia must play to win.
With question marks over the match fitness and the travel fatigue of the South Americans, the Socceroos will never get a better chance to finally make their home ground what it should be - an advantage.