The Olyroos have stumbled early on their road to the London Olympics with a scoreless draw against United Arab Emirates on Wednesday night.

The Australia under-23 outfit was fortunate to finish 0-0 when largely outplayed by UAE at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium.

One of a dozen Asian nations seeking three berths at the 2012 Games, Australia missed a chance to secure valuable home points in the first of six matches against UAE, Iraq and Uzbekistan.

The visitors dominated the opening half and perplexed the Olyroos with a series of attacking forays, most featuring Ahmed Kalil, a striker who won the 2008 Asian Young Footballer of the Year award.

The skilful Kalil blasted a 25-metre left-footed shot just wide in the 31st minute which had Australia goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne beaten.

Three minutes later the 20-year-old Kalil, who has scored nine goals from 25 appearances in UAE's senior side, found the net from metres out only to be called offside.

But the visitors' best chance came a minute later when Australia captain Oliver Bozanic inexplicably lost control of the ball in defence and gifted Ali Ahmed a free run at goal.

But the UAE midfielder hesitated near the penalty spot, allowing Bozanic to make amends with a desperate diving tackle which spilled the ball over the goal line.

Australia had two gilt-edged chances to turn the tide in the second half, both courtesy of influential midfielder Mitch Nichols.

Nichols failed to latch on to a close range header opportunity from a prime Aziz Behich cross in the 59th minute.

But just 10 minutes later Nichols connected sweetly with a diving header - only for the attempt to land in the hands of keeper Adel Mohamed.

Australia play UAE, Iraq and Uzbekistan in home and away matches culminating in March, with the group winner booking a berth at the London Games.

Runners-up in each of the three Asian groups play a three-way round-robin tournament with the winner playing an African nation to advance to the Games.

Olyroos coach Aurelio Vidmar said his side put in a "performance not up to scratch".

"It was certainly a difficult night for us, in no way did we ever get our rhythm," Vidmar said.

"We just struggled all night, even to control the ball.

"We couldn't find our rhythm for whatever reason ... maybe it was a little bit of nerves because we started very jittery."

UAE coach Mahdi Ali Hassan Redhan was content to take a point for the draw on foreign soil.

"The team played very well, it was a very challenging game, and I think it is a good result for us," he said.

The Olyroos' next fixture is against Uzbekistan on November 27 in Sydney.

Steve Larkin
AAP