South Korea began their campaignfor a first Asian Cup title in 51 years with a polished passingdisplay to beat Bahrain 2-1 in Qatar on Monday.
The Koreans dominated the match for 85 minutes and ledcomfortably thanks to two goals from Jeju United's 21-year-oldmidfielder Koo Ja-cheol which were both aided by mistakes from the Gulf side.
Faouzi Aaish then made it a needlessly nervy last fiveminutes for the Koreans after he converted a penalty followingdefender Kwak Tae-hwi's dismissal for bringing down substituteAbdulla Al Dakeel in the area.
However, the twice Asian champions resisted the pressure torecord a fully-deserved win in front of the watching AFCpresident Mohamed Bin Hammam at a chilly Al Gharafa Stadium.
The Red Devils took the lead five minutes before halftimewhen Koo's right-footed strike near the penalty spot wasdeflected past Bahrain goalkeeper Mahmood Mansoor by his teammate Abdulla Marzooqi.
The second came seven minutes after the break when Mansoorcould only parry Cha Du-ri's dipping 20-metre drive back infront of his goal to allow Koo a simple tap in from inside thesix-yard box.
Bahrain offered little in attacking threat throughout thematch with their coach Salman Shareedah providing the mostentertainment.
The recently appointed bespectacled coach prowled the edgeof his technical area as if trapped like a mime artist,demonstrating various frustrated poses in his grey suit.
He was given hope, however, when central defender Kwak fellinto Al Dakeel with the referee producing a straight red cardand awarding the penalty.
The Koreans have qualified for seven successive World Cupsbut have struggled in the 16-team regional competition afterwinning the first two editions in 1956 and 60.
Their fans will hope that wait is coming to an end after aconfident display against a side who narrowly missed out onqualifying for the last two World Cup finals in playoffs and hadbeen expected to cause them problems.
The result puts the Koreans on three points in Group C,level with Australia who earlier thrashed lowly India 4-0 at theAl Sadd Stadium.
