SEOUL, Oct 12: South Korea beat Iran 2-0 in a friendly on Wednesday to give coach Dick Advocaat a victory in his first game in charge. The home side were in front within a minute after a shot from Cho Won-hee deflected awkwardly off an Iranian player into the net.

In a cruel finish for the visitors, South Korea broke upfield in the 89th minute and a shot by Kim Jin-kyu looped into the net after getting another deflection from an Iranian player.

Both Iran and South Korea have already secured two of Asia’s four automatic World Cup spots.

South Korea gave the visitors little space, with the movement and pace of Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung a constant threat.

“It was a victory that we deserved because we didn’t give a lot of chances away. I have to be fair that in the second half Iran had a little bit more control of the game without getting a lot of chances”, he said.

Ali Karimi probably had the best of Iran’s limited attempts on goal during the match, which was played at the Seoul World Cup stadium.

The former Netherlands manager took over from compatriot Jo Bonfrere last month, becoming the third Dutchman in less than five years to take charge of South Korea.

Despite guiding the South Koreans to their sixth consecutive World Cup finals, Bonfrere stepped down in August following a string of poor performances since securing their spot in Germany.

Guus Hiddink led the team to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup.—Reuters