As the clock ticked towards the final whistle, Emerton danced on the ball and let loose a long range effort for one of Australia's few shots on target and it whistled past the Hong Kong keeper into the back of the net.

It was all Australia needed - and almost all they could muster  - to beat Hong Kong...but came just as victory looked out of the Socceroos' grasp, despite the home nation's lowly FIFA ranking of 172nd in the world.

Osieck had chosen to field a mostly veteran Socceroo line-up with an average age of almost 29 in a surprisingly defensive line up on an appalling pitch at Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong.

The German coach opted for seven recognised defenders on the field, including Mark Milligan and Michael Thwaite both playing in a defensive midfield role ahead of Robbie Cornthwaite and Matt Smith in central defence and Eugene Galekovic in goals.

Aziz Behich and Ivan Franjic flanked the defence with skipper Brett Emerton, Matt McKay and Richard Garcia in midfield and Archie Thompson in attack.

The Socceroos controlled the tempo of the contest in the early stages, while Hong Kong, who beat Guam 2-1 in their opening match on Saturday, appeared overawed by their opponents.

But the home side grew in confidence with every minute that the scores remained locked and began to push numbers forward in search of the opening goal as capitalised on the defensive strategy and the gap between the deep-lying Australian defence and its stranded attack.

Australia should have taken the lead towards the end of the opening half when a defensive error gifted McKay possession near the spot, but his shot sailed high over the crossbar.

Thompson had an opportunity of his own minutes later, with Cornthwaite's glancing header whisking past his outstretched boot in front of goal.

Hong Kong had a golden opportunity at the start of the second half, but Galekovic was up to the challenge with a diving save to deny Lo Kwan Yee.

Emerton and Chan Siu Ki were involved in an altercation after Chan was booked for a tough challenge on the Socceroos skipper, who was then cautioned for his aggressive reaction as tempers began to flare.

Emerton pounced on a wayward pass soon after and played Thompson through on goal, but the Melbourne Victory striker fired his shot directly at Yapp, who made a fine save.

Newcastle Jets forward Adam Taggart made his international debut in place of Thompson, before Osieck introduced emerging star Tom Rogic for Garcia with 10 minutes to go.

Rogic almost proved the difference with a powerful shot that was forced over the bar by Yapp as the small Australian contingent in the crowd grew increasingly nervous.

But their fears were allayed when Emerton worked his way around the defence before firing past Yapp to silence the home supporters.

Terry Antonis replaced Sydney FC team-mate Emerton in the dying stages, becoming the 554th player to represent Australia, who held on for the victory.

Australia will take on North Korea before facing Guam and Taiwan, with the winner of the five-team competition to join hosts South Korea, Japan and China at next year's tournament proper.

Earlier, North Korea thumped Guam 5-0 in the day's other match.