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The 0-0 draw was light on entertainment, but it was very much a case of 'job done' for Verbeek, who said he considered the point probably the best Australia could have hoped for after much of the team arrived less than 48 hours before the game.

"I think that was maximum today," he told Fox Sports after the game."Poor preparation, more or less no preparation, I think defensively we did very well.

"We couldn't hold the ball in the last 15-20 minutes. We lost the ball a bit easily and came under pressure. But 0-0 in Japan is a great result."

The ability for Australia to perform so well against on of Asia's best teams on such a limited preparation was a true measure of the players' professionalism according to Verbeek.

"You see how very professional the players are, with the eight hours time difference. They were all very tired, but they concentrated and were organised, I think they need a big compliment for that," he said.

Verbeek said the composure and professionalism of his defensive players stood out. He said Scott Chipperfield's performance in his first game in two months was outstanding.

"He had not trained in five weeks and then played 90 minutes in Japan. They all did a great job. The experience of Lucas and Craig at the back and Grella, is very important for us," he said.

But Verbeek refused to entertain any thoughts that Australia had one foot on the plane to South Africa.

"There's a great game coming up at ANZ in Sydney against Uzbekistan. It's a big game. Every game is big at the moment," he said.

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