Socceroos continue preparations

Australia played out a scoreless draw in a training match last night against Singapore Under 23s at the Bishan Stadium as preparations continue ahead of the Socceroos historic debut in the AFC Asian Cup next Sunday.

Australia played out a scoreless draw in a training match last night against Singapore Under 23s at the Bishan Stadium as preparations continue ahead of the Socceroos historic debut in the AFC Asian Cup next Sunday.

Consisting of two periods of 35 minutes each, the match was intended as a low-key outing for those players who didn't feature heavily in the Socceroos 3-0 defeat of Singapore in the international played the previous day.

Australia fielded all squad members who didn't start against Singapore, less goalscorer Harry Kewell, the recuperating Tim Cahill, and also John Aloisi who arrives into camp today.

The match was a spirited contest though largely free of goalmouth action with Qantas Under 23s striker Bruce Djite coming closest to breaking the deadlock however his second half effort was disallowed for offside.

Sydney FC's David Carney (pictured) featured at left full-back while there were impressive performances from the likes of Nick Carle, Michael Beauchamp, Carl Valeri and youngster Nathan Burns who made his senior debut 24 hours previously.

The Socceroos will make their AFC Asian Cup debut against Oman on Sunday before completing their Group A fixtures against Iraq on Friday 13 July and co-host Thailand on Monday 16 July.

Australian line-up: Brad Jones (Michael Petkovic h/t); David Carney, Mark Milligan, Michael Beauchamp, Michael Thwaite, Carl Valeri, Nick Carle, Nathan Burns, Mark Bridge, Archie Thompson (c), Bruce Djite.