Socceroos held by Sth Africa
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Joshua Kennedy of Australia heads home Australia's second goal during the International Friendly match between South Africa and Australia at Loftus Road on August 19, 2008 in London, England. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images) (Getty Images: hamish Blair)
The Socceroos have had a 2-2 draw against South Africa in their friendly match at Loftus Road in London.
South Africa opened the scoring through Siyabonga Nkosi against the run of play, but Australia led 2-1 at half-time after goals to Mile Sterjovski and Josh Kennedy.
South Africa' Teko Modise equalised in the 58th minute with a shot from the edge of the area that thundered into the roof of the net.
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek told Fox Sports it was a good hit-out, but there was room for improvement.
"When we had the ball I thought we played very well," Verbeek said.
"Defensively we gave some chances away, I was not so pleased with that but that's normal - we had a one-day preparation.
"So football-wise we did very well, defensively we have to improve. But that's what games like this are for.
"But overall I was very pleased with the performance. The boys looked fresh, sharp."
Another positive for Australia was the appearance of Scott Chipperfield, who was one of Australia's most consitent players in the 2006 World Cup.
Chipperfield returned after missing eight Socceroos internationals due to a long-term foot injury.
The night was also significant for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. It was his 59th cap, making him Australia's equal ninth most capped player, level with former defender Milan Ivanovic.
Verbeek made plenty of changes for the second half, replacing Lucas Neill, Chipperfield and Scott McDonald with Mark Milligan, David Carney and Brett Holman at half-time.
Shortly afterwards Carl Valeri came on for Vince Grella and Richard Garcia came on to make his debut, replacing Sterjovski.
World Cup campaign
The match was part of Australia's build-up to the next phase of World Cup qualification, which begins with a match against Uzbekistan in Tashkent next month.
The Socceroos will complete that build-up with a friendly against Verbeek's native Dutch national side in the Netherlands on September 6.
Verbeek says the team was looking good for the final stage of its World Cup qualifying campaign.
"The boys look fresh, [it's the] start of the season of course," he said.
"They are at the start end of the preparation and they look much fresher than they did in June.
"Okay, the circumstances were great tonight and I'm looking forward to going to a training camp in Holland to play the Netherlands and I'm 100 per cent sure we'll be ready when we play Uzbekistan away."
The Socceroos' group also includes Japan, Bahrain and Qatar.
"I look forward to our training camp and then our match against Uzbekistan, which is when it all begins," Verbeek said.
"This was a good chance,a good opportunity, to look at all the players for me."
Verbeek was pleased with Chipperfield's comeback.
"Scott has good experience and has a good feel for space," Verbeek added.
"He is also very comfotable on the ball. I'm happy he could play 45 minutes and in September he'll be ready for 90 minutes.
"Every player wants to play in the World Cup, but first we have to concentrate on the qualifying games, and Scott wants to be there.
"We have 11 spots up for grabs. We have three weeks to go and anything can happen.
"I will wait until our training camp and then make up my mind. But I know who is capable of what and have some ideas.
"The defence is not a concern, but the defensive organisation is not good yet."
