Popovic conceded that Saudi Arabia were the better side in the first half, but was heartened by the improvements shown by the Socceroos after the break.

“It was a really tough match, a proper World Cup qualifier,” said the 51-year-old, who has seen his side remain unbeaten since taking over from Graham Arnold.

“They brought a lot of energy in the first half and I don't think we coped with it well. We looked a little bit heavy and lethargic."

“We created two very good opportunities from pressing without (having much of) the ball, we did some really good things and probably should have scored with one of those. 

“But in the second half, I thought we really improved and took control of the game. Overall, there's still a lot to play for but we take the point and move forward to Bahrain.”

The introduction of Nishan Velupillay in the second half brought new impetus and drive to Australia’s game as they carved out opportunities, only to be denied by a resilient Saudi Arabia defence.

Ironically, it was Velupillay’s injury-enforced substitution in the 75th minute that enabled the Saudi side to regain control and they looked to have scored the winner through Sultan Al Ghannam in stoppage time, only for VAR to rule it out for offside.

Renard was encouraged by the performance in his first outing since returning to the Saudi Arabia national team fold but admitted that there is work still to be done while reserving praise for Saud Abdulhamid after his goal-saving challenge against Riley McGree.

“We knew before it would be a tough game and it was,” said Renard. “We're missing a lot of players so we had to be strong with a very young team. But congratulations to them. 

“We were not all fantastic all the time but we were strong. This Australian team just drew in Japan and beat China (PR) with the new coach so it was a difficult game.  We managed to get one point. We are at the midway stage of the group, every match will be important."

“We know the speed of Saud Abdulhamid, congratulations to him. He saved us with this action. We were strong defensively, offensively we didn't play all the action well but I'm happy with the team spirit.”

Next up for Australia is a meeting with Bahrain who they lost to on Matchday One while Saudi Arabia will face Indonesia.