A gritty defensive performance from Newcastle Jets captain Jade North helped the Olyroos hold on for a 1-1 draw in their opening Olympic fixture against Serbia last night.

Serbia dominated the match but was forced to shoot from outside the 18-yard box for most of the night thanks to the central defensive pairing of North and 20-year-old Matthew Spiranovic.

Australia struggled to keep possession last night but still managed to score the opening goal in the 69th minute when David Carney broke down the left flank and sent a dangerous ball across the face of the Serbian goal for Ruben Zadkovich to knock in at the far post.

The goal was one of the few Olyroos’ chances in a match in which Serbia dominated possession and had the lions-share of attacking chances. Serbian midfielder Zoran Tosic was particularly threatening, unleashing a barrage of long range shots that were only kept out by the brilliance of Olyroos goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Serbia’s sole goal came in the 78th minute when Slobodan Rajkovic headed home from a corner kick. Regular fouls made the Olympic clash ugly to watch at times and the Serbians, many of whom played in the Serbian team that was runners up in last year’s Euro U21 tournament, will be disappointed they could not steal the win.

Australian coach Graham Arnold said after the game that he was proud of the Olyroos and happy that that result meant they were still in with a chance of qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition.

“They all worked unbelievably hard in very trying conditions. Sometimes we did turn possession over too quickly but that might have been down to the occasion.”

Australia’s next match will be against Argentina on August 10. Argentina beat Ivory Coast 2-1 last night and currently sits at the top of Group A.
Australia line-up:

1. Adam Federici (gk), 2. Jade North, 4. Mark Milligan (c) (16. Billy Celeski 66’), 5. Matthew Spiranovic, 6. Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 8. Stuart Musialik, 10. Archie Thompson (15. Kristian Sarkies 76’), 11. David Carney, 12. Trent McClenahan, 13. Ruben Zadkovich, 17. Nikita Rukavytsya (9. Mark Bridge 88’).

Serbia line-up:

1. Vladimir Stojkovic (gk) (c), 2. Marko Jovanovic, 3. Aleksandar Kolarov, 5. Slobodan Rajkovic, 7. Milan Smiljanic, 8. Nikola Gulan (4. Gojko Kacar +73′), 9. Djordje Rakic (14. Milan Mrdakovic +56′), 12. Dusan Tadic, 13. Ljubomir Fejsa (15. Aleksander Zivkovic +77′) 16. Nenad Tomovic, 17. Zoran Tosic.

Referee: Jerome Damon (RSA)
Crowd: 36,184

By James Heffield, Betfair soccer bet journalist