BEIJING, March 26 (Reuters) - Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer saved an 89th-minute penalty to help an injury-depleted Australia side scrape a 0-0 draw against China in their Asian World Cup qualifier in Kunming on Wednesday.

The veteran Middlesbrough stopper went from villain to hero

in the space of a minute, saving Shao Jiayi's spot kick after he

brought down Chinese striker Qu Bo in the penalty area.

'To lose that match to a late penalty would have been a

disaster for us because I thought we deserved to get something

out of the game,' Schwarzer told Australian television.

'When you look at the preparation we've had it's an amazing

result.'

Australia went into the match, played in front of a

near-capacity crowd in the southwest China city, minus Harry

Kewell and a number of their key Europe-based players who

withdrew late with injuries.

Schwarzer's heroics were the counterpoint to a disappointing

display from China, whose strikers missed a number of

goal-scoring opportunities in a largely defensive and scrappy

encounter.

Zhu Ting failed to capitalise on several early chances,

volleying over the bar twice from close range, while Zheng Zhi's

mistimed 35th-minute strike allowed Schwarzer time to scramble

across his line and prevent the hosts from taking the lead.

Already short of options up front, Australia's injury woes

were compounded when striker Archie Thompson was forced off

after just eight minutes.

Despite lacking firepower and seeming content to play for a

draw, Australia nonetheless created several chances, with Mark

Bresciano surging forward dangerously from midfield.

The Palermo playmaker cannoned a cross from Brett Holman

into Chinese keeper Zong Li in the 24th minute, and set up David

Carney for an injury-time strike only to be denied by a

desperate block by defender Sun Xiang.

Australia coach Pim Verbeek, who overcame a bout of

gastroenteritis on Tuesday to oversee the match, said he was

pleased with the draw.

'We only had two days' preparation and the Chinese team had

two and a half months so I think we played very well ... I'm

very proud of the boys,' the Dutchman said.

China, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Iraq in Dubai last

month, need to beat Asian Games champions Qatar to get their

World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.