(Sports)Australia takes first two-match series against Greece

Australia has taken out the first match of a two-game friendly series against Greece on a soggy Sydney pitch on Saturday, thanks to steady feet from substitute Matthew Leckie right at the death.

Australian coach Ange Postecoglou predicted an aggressive Greek outfit to face the Socceroos over the series, and that's exactly what he got with a lot of push and shoves between two sides, costing the visitors starting keeper early on.

Greece lived up to their defensive reputation throughout the match denying Australia two plumb chances early on, and upping their posture in the second half to deny Australia points on the board, with little reply at the other end of the park.

As the match went to the death, a beautifully placed centring cross from Alex Gersbach to the safe feet of Matthew Leckie, who steadied himself to send the pill past the strong defence, low and deep into Greece right-hand net. The goal proved the final kick of the hard fought match.

"I thought we deserved to win," Australian coach Ange Postecoglou told reporters post-match, adding the team got their "just deserts" at the end despite missing out on an obvious penalty in the first half and a disallowed goal late in the second.

"It was difficult conditions against a good opponent, (but) we controlled the game, we created some good opportunities for ourselves."

"It took to the last kick of the game... and it shows that if you do persist and stay disciplined you get your rewards."

It was a slow start for the Aussies, however they found their rhythm midway through the first period, though Socceroos forward Nathan Burns horribly missed a Robbie Kruse flick behind the Greek defence, much to the delight of substitute keeper Stefanos Kapino.

Kapino substituted starting keeper Orestis Karnezis in the 15th minute after colliding with Australian captain Mile Jedinak in an early test of the high ball.

"(Karnezis) has some problems with his hips, so we don't know (how bad) at this moment, he's going to hospital," Greece national coach Michael Skibbe told reporters post-match, adding he is unsure of the keeper's condition.

"Hopefully there's nothing serious with him."

Kapino too however had a health scare late in the first half, colliding with his right-hand post for a miraculous save from an embarrassingly certain own goal from a tired Greece defence.

The Greek recovered to then deny Australia a perfect chance as clock struck the end of the half with a one-handed dive off a punchy on-target from Australian midfielder Mark Milligan, virtually from the penalty spot.

Skibbe said his team was tired in the first half, but recovered during the second to keep Australia at bay until later in last 10 to 15 minutes when Australia used their tactics to pressure the strong defence, creating some "lucky moments" until the final kick of the match.

"(Australia) played well because we were doing so many mistakes in the first half," Skibbe said.

"The chances of the Australian team were not created by the Australians, they were created by ourselves sometimes."

However the Greeks had no answer for a younger Australian attack late in the second half, creating multiple opportunities to score that were denied by the ref's whistle, while others were swatted away by the strong Greek defence.

Super-sub Tim Cahill thought he had scored the winner at the 89th minute off a perfectly placed corner from debutant Alex Gersbach, however the line official deemed the ball had gone out on Greece's end line.

Though the Postecoglou would have loved to at demolished Greece 5-0 with the chances that were created in the second half, the Aussie debutant performances is giving him confidence in the squad as the final leg of World Cup qualifiers nears.

"It just gives a strong foundation to really push on, there should be no hesitation to what we do now, we should go full throttle right through to the World Cup," Postecoglou said on the sides new pressure play style.

Australia and Greece will face each other again in Melbourne on Tuesday night. Endit