Former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat can take his place in South Korean football folklore.

For this was the first time the nation had achieved a World Cup victory in Europe.

They managed to reach the semi-finals in 2002 but that was on home ground.

What this victory will do to their confidence is anyone's guess but with shrewd Dutch coach Advocaat at the helm they will believe anything is possible.

However, they struggled to overcome a Togo side making their bow at this level.

Otto Pfister may have returned as coach but they lost their skipper Jean-Paul Abalo following his sending off in the second half.

That proved to be the turning point as Togo had looked comfortable in the early stages.

Mohamed Hader strode forward in the 11th minute and rattled a shot over the bar.

Togo broke forward in the 16th minute through Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor but his delivery to Mahamed Kader was poor and the chance was lost.

They took the lead in the 31st minute with a cool finish from Kader.

The 27-year-old striker, who plays for French club Guingamp, showed a clean pair of heels to Kim Young Chul before firing a shot into the corner.

South Korea hit back in the 38th minute and Cho Jae Jin made space down the left. But his finish was wasteful and he failed to trouble goalkeeper Kossi Agassa.

Togo almost added a second four minutes later when Junior Senaya curled in a free-kick from the edge of the area but Lee Woon Jae turned his effort over the top.

Ji-Sung Park then got into a good position on the edge of the area in the 47th minute but blasted his shot over the bar.

However, a minute later Kader almost got a second. He cut inside and Lee Woon Jae did well to parry his shot to safety.

The Koreans looked short on confidence and substitute Ahn Jung Hwan fired his effort into the crowd when a cross would have a better option.

The game took a dramatic twist in the 54th minute when Abalo was sent off by English referee Graham Poll after picking up a second yellow card for bringing down Park in full flight.

South Korea took immediate advantage with Lee Chun Soo equalising with a superb free- kick from the edge of the area.

They stepped up the pressure to take the lead in the 72nd minute following a stunning finish from Ahn, who lofted a shot over Agassa.

Ahn is looking for a move after his German club Duisburg were relegated and it was a goal of the highest order.

He then had a shot blocked by the goalkeeper two minutes later as Togo ran out of steam and ideas.

Teams

South Korea Woon-Jae Lee, Young-Chul Kim, Choi,Jin-Kyu Kim (Ahn 45), Young-Pyo Lee, Song, Ji-Sung Park,Eul-Yong Lee (Nam-Il Kim 68), Ho Lee, Chun-Soo Lee,Jae-Jin Cho (Sang-Sik Kim 83).

Subs Not Used: Baek, Won-hee Cho, Chung, Do-Heon Kim, Dong-Jin Kim, Yong-Dae Kim, Young-Kwang Kim, Chu-Young Park,Seol.

Booked: Young-Chul Kim, Chun-Soo Lee.

Goals: Chun-Soo Lee 54, Ahn 72.

Togo Agassa, Nibombe, Tchangai, Assemoassa (Forson 62), Abalo,Salifou (Aziawonou 86), Cherif-Toure, Romao, Senaya (Toure 56),Mohamed, Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Agboh, Akoto, Dossevi, Erassa, Malm, Obilale, Olufade, Tchagnirou, Atsou.

Sent Off: Abalo (53).

Booked: Abalo, Romao, Tchangai.

Goals: Mohamed 31.

Att: 48,000

Ref: Graham Poll (England).