They were welcomed into Argentinian cities by lord mayors, written about in the nation's newspapers and locked horns with star talent in the land that gave us Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.
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But Cooma Tigers coach Gaby Wilk wanted just one thing out of their pre-season tour to Argentina - a round one victory.
He got what he was after as the Tigers enjoyed a dream start to their Canberra Premier League campaign with a 3-0 win over Tuggeranong United at Nijong Oval on Sunday.
"We went to Argentina for 25 days and we were working there in the morning and afternoon every day. We had a very good pre-season, and after this the boys look very good," Wilk said.
"We went there, training in the morning and afternoon, and then we played three friendlies, which was very important for us. It was a different level. The work we did there, we need to continue here. It's simple like that.
"Only four players didn't come, the rest came over. We need to continue the work we did over there, and that's no problem.
"Every year we go somewhere. I'm very happy. Everybody was very happy, everybody wants to go back. We live there for 25 days, living like professionals.
"I have a very good group of boys, everybody was together and working. Everybody respects each other."
It took just 37 minutes for the work to begin to pay off when Cooma broke the deadlock through Nic Abot's sublime long range strike and Tuggeranong struggled to contain the Tigers from there.
The margin was soon extended to two goals through Lawrence Redmond, and Roko Strika iced the contest with a classy 62nd minute strike to give his side the perfect start to the season.
"The boys played very good. We had a very good pre-season, and all the work they've done over the past months has paid off," Wilk said.
"The 11 players played very good, I can't choose one. When I put Roko Strika up there in the second half, that might have been the difference, but I am very happy with the performance from everybody.
"I need them to continue the same, I need to continue the work."
Meanwhile, a second-half brace from Sam Smith helped the Monaro Panthers pull away from an undermanned Riverina Rhinos outfit to claim a 4-1 win in Griffith on Saturday.
A piece of Martin Deng brilliance paved the way for Woden Weston to secure a 2-0 win over the Belconnen United Blue Devils at Melrose Synthetic Oval.
The action had got underway the night prior when a new-look Canberra Olympic bounced back from a huge player turnover to claim a 3-0 triumph over arch-rivals and reigning champions Canberra FC at Deakin Stadium.
Andre Jancevski netted twice to give Olympic the spoils against Canberra, who are looking to back up their remarkable treble-winning season.
But the performance of the weekend? That belonged to Canberra United Academy star Hayley Taylor-Young, who scored six goals in her side's 9-0 triumph over Canberra Olympic in the women's Premier League.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
