The Socceroos were held to a 0-0 draw by Indonesia in their opening Asian Cup qualifier in Jakarta overnight. Coach Pim Verbeek used seven debutants in the Group B match that was more of a wrestle than a football match.

Neither side had many scoring opportunities but were both organised defensively.

The best chance of the game came to the Indonesian's in the first half when Talaohu Musafri pounced on an Australian blunder but just fired wide.

Archie Thompsion provided the visitors closest call with a long range shot that was spilled by goalkeeper Markus Harrison but Matt Simon could not quite manage to get his boot to the loose ball.

The Socceroos next qualifier is against Kuwait in Canberra on March 5.