Fill-in keeper saves Socceroos Air shot: South Korea's Kim Chang-Soo challenges Socceroo Dario Vidosic. Had Australia's batsmen in that dreadful first innings at Lord's shown anything like the application, commitment, technique and concentration displayed by Eugene Galekovic in Seoul then they would be right in the second Test. A makeshift Australia, with few first-team players available, somehow scrapped its way to a draw in the opening East Asian Cup match against a rampant South Korea through the heroics of the Adelaide United goalkeeper. Galekovic flung himself right, left, high and low to deny a series of shots and improbably keep the South Koreans goalless in a game they dominated. Hong Myeong-Bo is a legend of the local game, having captained South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. On Saturday night he was making his coaching debut with the senior side, having taken over to prepare the team for the 2014 World Cup, and he made his intentions clear from the start. He called up some of the nation's most promising youngsters, many of whom had been part of the London Olympic campaign that netted a bronze medal, and ignored some veterans and overseas-based players. His team went for it right from the outset, employing a slick, high-tempo game that threatened to rip the Socceroos apart. It beggared belief that they couldn't make all their possession and attacking prowess count for anything. The reason was simply Galekovic. If this tournament was about fringe players and breakout youngsters staking a claim for Socceroo consideration for Brazil, surely the half produced by the Adelaide shot-stopper in the Seoul World Cup stadium might have been enough to convince Socceroos coach Holger Osieck that he should pencil in his name for one of the three slots. A measure of the South Koreans' dominance was the fact that Australia had to wait until the 39th minute before it had a first real effort on goal, a skidding Mark Milligan header from a Dario Vidosic free kick. Debutant centre-forward Mitchell Duke barely had a touch in the opening period, and it was instructive that as a striker, his first touch in the opening 10 minutes was a defensive header. It would be tedious to merely list the saves that Galekovic made, but they were all vital and a handful were top draw, beginning with his low diving stop early in the game that denied Yun Il-lok a goal from close range on his national debut. He bookended the half with a save from the same FC Seoul player. For Australia there was little to be happy about save the scoreline, although in its defence it did look steadier in the second half and was not ripped open with quite such regularity. Still, there were periods when it seemed like the team in red shirts had the ball for minutes at a time, while Australia struggled not just to put two passes together but to even clear its lines. Of course, it wasn't a full-strength Australia, and many of the players are out of season while the host's squad all play in Korea, Japan or China and are in mid-campaign and are match-sharp. But even allowing for that, and for the fact that this tournament was all about experimentation, trying new players and seeing who could make a claim for a World Cup berth, there was little, save the scoreline and the grit and fortitude displayed by his players, for Osieck to take out of the match. Vidosic flashed a shot wide in the second half and Ruben Zadkovich blazed over, but that was about it. Even when Galekovic couldn't get to Yeom Ki-hun's 77th-minute shot the post came to his rescue. It was that sort of night for the South Koreans who continued to shoot fish in a barrell but, alas for their vocal fans, kept forgetting to load their guns. It was a compliment of sorts to the Socceroos that Hong eventually went route one, introducing 196-centimetre striker Kim Shin-wook, but even his aerial prowess couldn't find a way through.