The Subway Olyroos began their AFC Under-23 Asian Cup campaign with a 0-0 draw against Jordan in Qatar on Monday.
Stacked with Isuzu UTE A-League players – nine in the starting XI, the points were shared in the Group A opener at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, where Jordan played the final 13 minutes with 10 men following a red card.
The Olyroos outshot Jordan 13-3 but there was nothing separating the two sides on the scoreboard as Tony Vidmar’s side now look ahead to a clash with Indonesia on Thursday.
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Patrick Beach (Melbourne City), Callum Talbot (Melbourne City), Jordan Courtney-Perkins (Sydney FC), Jacob Farrell (Central Coast Mariners), Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory), Jake Hollman (Macarthur FC), Lachlan Brook (Western Sydney Wanderers), Alou Kuol (Central Coast Mariners) and Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney Wanderers) were all in the line-up, while Jordi Valadon (Melbourne Victory) also came off the bench.
Milanovic saw an early shot go over the crossbar against Jordan in a cagey start to the contest.
There was more action in the second half, with Beach produced an outstretched save to thwart substitute Baker Kalbouneh and Jordan thought they had broken the deadlock from the resulting corner but it was deemed offside.
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Brook and substitute Mohamed Toure had decent chances as the half wore on, while Jordan ended the match with 10 men after captain Danial Afaneh saw red for a second bookable offence.
The Asian Cup doubles as AFC qualifiers for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Should they finish in the top three, the Olyroos will automatically qualify for the Olympics, while the fourth-best team will play an AFC-CAF play-off match for the final qualification spot.
Featured image: Football Australia/AFC
