Australia was held to a 0-0 draw by UAE in Al Ain overnight in its final warm-up match prior to the Asian Cup.

An immovable UAE defence gave a largely second string Socceroos outfit nothing in their front third although Australian captain Lucas Neill was unlucky not to have his goal in the 57th minute allowed after Sasa Ognenovski was ruled off-side just prior to the finish.

Nathan Burns and Matt McKay were given starts whilst Robbie Kruse and Nathan Coe came on at half-time for their international debuts as Holger Osieck decided to rest Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Mark Schwarzer and Jason Culina.

Australia will now head to Doha, Qatar for the tournament proper which kicks off on Friday. The Socceroos' play their first match on Monday night (Tuesday morning AEDT) against India.