Schwarzer hails 'amazing effort'

Hero Mark Schwarzer said he was proud of the Socceroos after they remained top of their World Cup qualifying group with a scoreless draw against China in Kunming last night.

Australia went into the match without a host of injured stars including Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill and had to contend with an altitude of almost 1,900 metres.

Both sides had opportunities to score but China failed to capitalise on a penalty late in the second half.

Socceroos goalkeeper Schwarzer made the save and he told Fox Sports he was proud of the way the team played without some of its biggest names.

"If you look at the preparation we had and the conditions we've played under, I thought it was an amazing effort from all the boys," he said.

Schwarzer said he waited as long as he could in diving for the penalty so China's striker had to make a decision.

"Obviously he didn't hit it as far in the corner as I thought it would and luckily with it hitting my legs it sort of came back towards me as well, so I was able to grab it on the second attempt," he said.

"But you've got to ride your luck sometimes."

Coach Pim Verbeek was happy with the result, which maintained his unbeaten record and kept Australia on course for South Africa 2010.

"The boys played very hard to get this result," he said.

"Of course we came here to win because everyone likes to win games.

"But I have to admit, I can live with this result."