An experimental line-up turned in arguably the least impressive performance of the 13-game Tony Popovic era in Saturday's 1-0 loss in Houston.
The Socceroos were flat and, bar some early chances for Mohamed Toure, lacked any real drive or punch until second-half substitutes provided a spark.
The Socceroos now appear far less likely to sneak into Pot 2 of seeding for December 5's World Cup draw and are instead expected to land in Pot 3.
That would mean their group would have opponents from the top-ranked Pot 1, plus Pots 2 and 4.
Australia won't be able to skip a beat against world No.13 Colombia, who are fresh off a 2-1 win over New Zealand, at Citi Fields in Queens on Wednesday AEDT.
Colombia, who beat Venezuela 6-3 in September to end their qualification hopes, loom as a smoky to go far at next year's World Cup finals.
If the Socceroos are to make inroads against Colombia, they will need more impetus and cut through in possession, which has been an issue in the more testing games under Popovic.
"It was a game of open spaces. And I think there's obviously a few things that we need to reflect on that maybe we didn't get right and go forward and try and put them right against Colombia," forward Riley McGree said.
"Each one of us can learn something from this game, and I think there's probably more negatives to learn than the positives - due to obviously we lost, and we probably didn't create as many chances, and we weren't as fluid as we wanted to be.Â
"But that's all part and parcel with the game, and hopefully we can take that on board and move forward on to Colombia and onwards."
Physicality was clearly an issue and Popovic lamented his side being beaten to both first and second balls.
McGree, who was among the second-half substitutes, indicated Venezuela, who enjoyed 66 per cent of possession, had been given too much space to work with.
"When a few of us came on, myself included, it was just basically try and get pressure on the ball and try and not let them play too easily," he said.
Popovic appears likely to field more established players in the second game of the window, though McGree and Jackson Irvine are still building their minutes.
Jason Geria appears set to miss with a left hamstring injury while strikers Nick D'Agostino and Deni Juric have returned to their clubs with their own injury concerns.
