Park Ji Sung scored when the Koreans beat the European champion 2004 Greece

South Korea began their World Cup campaign with a confident victory over Greece in Port Elizabeth.

The 2004 European champions rarely threatened a well-organised and extremely athletic display from South Korea, who impressed with goals in either half from Lee Jung-soo and Park Ji-sung.

Greece produced only two genuine attempts on goal while, in contrast, Huh Jung-moo's team should have won by a larger margin had Monaco striker Park Chu-young been more clinical in front of goal.

The brand new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth was at best two-thirds full for the opening Group B fixture, although the inevitable drone of the vuvuzelas provided sufficient atmosphere to enliven an intriguing first half dominated by South Korea.

However, it was Greece who had the first genuine goalscoring chance of the match inside two minutes when unmarked left-back Vasileios Torosidis thumped a half-volley from 10 yards just over from Georgios Karagounis's corner.

The missed opportunity was Greece's only significant effort in the half as South Korea took the lead five minutes later.

Ki Sung-yueng's free-kick from close to the right corner flag was inadvertently flicked on by Katsouranis at the near post into the path of onrushing centre-back Lee Jung-soo, who smartly adjusted his body position before volleying in from close range with goalkeeper Alexandros Tzoras nowhere in sight.

The early fillip allowed South Korea to dictate the tempo of the first half, with full-backs Lee Young-pyo and Cha-Doo-ri pushing forward at every opportunity, while British-based duo Park Ji-sung and Ki Sung-yueng dominated the experienced Greek pairing of Karagounis and Katsouranis in midfield.

Park Ji-sung was denied an excellent goalscoring opportunity when he was penalised for a foul on Giourkas Seitaridis by New Zealand referee Michael Hester, although replays suggested there was no contact between the two players.

The Manchester United player was once again involved as South Korea spurned a glorious chance to extend their lead in the 28th minute.

Lee-Young-pyo's intervention allowed Park Ji-sung to bisect both Greece centre-backs with a perfectly weighted through ball for Park Chu-young.

The striker displayed impressive acceleration with only Tzoras to beat, but his 12-yard strike deflected off the Panathinaikos keeper's left leg and out for a corner, much to Park Chu-young's frustration.

The end of the first half saw Greece probe Jung Sung-ryong's goal with two promising crosses which just evaded striker Angelos Charisteas.

But Greece manager Otto Rehaggel's frustrations were further compounded within seven minutes of the restart when South Korea doubled their lead courtesy of a horrendous defensive blunder in the 52nd minute by Loukas Vyntra.

The Panathinaikos centre-back received the ball with no apparent danger around him, but an awful first touch allowed the enterprising Park Ji-sung to steal the ball and charge into the box before sliding a well-placed left-footed strike past the onrushing Tzoras.

Rehaggel attempted to inject fresh impetus into his attacking line, replacing the largely redundant Charisteas and Giorgos Samaras with Pantelis Kapetanos and Dimitris Salpingidis.

But neither player could prevent Park Chu-young spurning another great chance to extend South Korea's lead in the 63rd minute when Cho-Doo-ri's perfect right-wing cross found the striker unmarked on eight yards, but his firm header flew over a relieved Tzoras's crossbar.

However, the double substitution had its desired effect as both men pressed forward, pressurising South Korea's defence for the first time in the match.

And goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong was forced into his first genuine save of the match when he parried Theofanis Gekas's stinging shot on the turn from the edge of the box over the bar for a corner in the 81st minute.

But as Greece pushed forward, South Korea attacked the large areas of vacant space, with Bolton's Lee Chung-yong's 18-yard strike pushed past the left-hand post by Tzoras in the 85th minute.

The goalless defeat further extends Greece's unenviable record of never having scored at the World Cup finals.

Korea Republic	2-0	Greece	FT
Lee, 7 Park, 52	(HT 1-0)
Team
South Korea 18 Jung 04 Cho 12 Lee 14 Lee 22 Cha 07 Park 08 Kim 10 Park (Seung-Youl Lee, 87) 16 Ki (Kim, 74) 17 Lee (Kim, 90+1) 19 Yeom		Greece 12 Tzorvas 02 Seitaridis 08 Papadopoulos 11 Vyntra 15 Torosidis 06 Tziolis 10 Karagounis (Patsatzoglou, 46) 21 Katsouranis 07 Samaras (Salpigidis, 59) 09 Charisteas (Kapetanos, 61) 17 Gekas
Substitutes: 01 Lee, 21 Kim, 02 Oh, 03 Hyung-ll Kim, 15 Kim, 23 Kang, 05 Kim, 06 Bo-Kyung Kim, 13 Kim, 09 Jung-Hwan Ahn, 11 Seung-Youl Lee, 20 Lee		Substitutes: 01 Chalkias, 13 Michail Sifakis, 04 Spyropoulos, 05 Moras, 16 Kyrgiakos, 19 Papaststhopoulos, 22 Malezas, 03 Patsatzoglou, 18 Ninis, 23 Prittas, 14 Salpigidis, 20 Kapetanos
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Referee: Michael Hester Attendance: 31,500