The Saudi's missed the chance to open the scoring when Naif Hazazi's second-half penalty was saved by China's Dalei Wang, and it proved costly as Hai Yu's 81st minute goal condemned them to a 1-0 loss at the Brisbane Stadium. 

The West Asian nation play their second Group B match on January 14 against North Korea, who also lost their first match 1-0 against Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Igor Sergeev's header just after the hour mark secured all three points for Uzbekistan as they look to build on their fourth-place finish at the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar.

Meanwhile in Group A, Cho Young-cheol's goal in first-half stoppage time earned South Korea a 1-0 win against Oman at the Canberra Stadium.

Despite the victory, coach Uli Stielike is expecting an improvement from his team having seen Oman create a number of chances to equalise in the second half.

Cho Young-cheol's goal earned South Korea a 1-0 win against Oman at the Canberra Stadium ©Getty Images



"We were favourites before the game because the expectation in Korea is very high," the German said.

"But as a result the players feel a big responsibility so don't ask a lot for the ball.

"There was too much hustle and bustle and we did not play in a relaxed manner.

"Our offence could not hold onto the ball and keep the game calm, so our defence was under pressure a lot and we can certainly play better.

"But I prefer a hard, tough match in our opening game so we can learn from our mistakes and get better and better in the tournament."

Group C takes centre stage tomorrow as the United Arab of Emirates meet Qatar and Iran face Bahrain.

Hosts Australia transferred from the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, in order to benefit from the higher level of competition. 

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