The first game of head coach Thomas Dooley’s second spell in charge of the Azkals saw the Germany-born American make eight changes to the side that previously featured in a competitive game at last year’s AFF Cup, a 3-2 win over Myanmar.

The most noticeable were the return of star goalkeeper Neil Etheridge between the posts, the demotion of the AFC Cup’s all-time top scorer Bienvenido Marañón to the bench, and the absence of team talisman Stephan Schröck who was not selected for the squad.

For Yemen, there were also plenty of changes since they last appeared in AFC action. From their final AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar Round Two fixture last June, just Mudir Al Radaei, Mohammed Al Wajih and Nasser Al Gahwashi remained in the 11 from the team that faced Palestine.

The Azkals went closest to opening the scoring on 21 minutes after a good sequence of play that ended in a firm, low strike from Oliver Bias that was kept out by Salem Al Harsh, diving low to his right.

With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Yemen went close themselves when Ahmed Al Sarori nearly took advantage of Bias’ hesitation on the ball, but Etheridge was quick to close down the forward and save from close range.

After the restart, Kenshiro Daniels should have done better with a header from a corner on 58 minutes that he could only direct straight at Al Harsh.

Shortly after Dooley added some firepower to his ranks with Marañón taking to the field in place of midfielder Sandro Reyes before a double change for Yemen saw Al Sarori replaced by Mohsen Qarawi and the injured Omar Al Dahi replaced by Haidar Aslam.

Marañón went close to making an impact with 15 minutes remaining when he was sent through by Patrick Reichelt, but the Spain-born forward was denied from an acute angle by the on-rushing Al Harsh.

As the match drew to a close, Yemen had a flurry of chances without drawing Etheridge into a meaningful save, although one corner on 87 minutes did cause panic in the Azkals area before Al Gahwashi blazed over from outside the area.

Manny Ott did have the chance to win the game in stoppage time when he volleyed in a ferocious strike after the ball dropped to him following a free-kick, but his effort flew narrowly the wrong side of Al Harsh’s left-hand post and the tie ended in a stalemate.