Men's Football: Australia and Serbia draw 1-1 in Group A opener

Djordje Rakic of Serbia controls the ball (Photo credit: Photogamma/Getty Images)Photo Gallery>>(BEIJING, August 7) -- Australia and Serbia produced an explosive second half display as they drew 1-1 in the first Men's Group A match at Shanghai Stadium on Thursday.

Australia's coach Graham Arnold will be disappointed not to take all three points after Ruben Zadkovich scored a breakaway goal in the 70th minute, which punished Serbia for failing to take advantage of its dominance.

After yet another Serbian attack broke down in the box, Australian winger David Carney flew down the left before sliding a perfect ball across the box for Zadkovich to slam home.

Clearly shocked, Serbia nearly went two down minutes later when substitute Billy Celeski (who replaced Australian captain Mark Milligan in the second half) danced through Serbia's defense to fire a shot that deflected off the goalpost.

But Serbia rallied, with substitute Aleksandar Zivkovic delivering a corner with his first touch of the game, which centre back Slobodan Rajkovic headed past Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici.

After the match, Rajkovic told journalists: "First I give my congratulations to the Australian team. But the most important fact is that we dominated the game."