The J-league club Shimizu S-Pulse striker, who scored a game-deciding goal to beat powerhouses Italy in the World Cup last year, did it again with only four minutes left on the clock to avenge their loss to Japan in Seoul last month.

The two Asian rivals played squarely in the first half, but neither had a clear scoring chance on the windy and rainy pitch before a sell-out 53,405 crowd at the National Stadium.

After the home side missed a right corner chance in the second minute, the visitors also failed to cash in on one less than two minutes later.

In the 26th minute, Brazilian-born Alessandro Santos and Mitsuo Ogasawara almost broke through to the Korean area, only to see the ball go too long and giving goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae an easy gather.

Japanese keeper Seigo Narazaki was forced to pull out some super-human skills when Korean skipper Yoo Sang-Chul and Choi Yong-Soo chased the ball into the area on a straight pass in the 31st minute.

Less than a minute later, however, he clashed with Kim Tae-Young when the striker tried to connect a header from a left corner kick by Cha Du-Ri. The collision sent the two crashing to the ground, albeit uninjured.

The second half started with the Koreans putting pressure on the Japanese.

Ahn Jung-Hwan came on strong in the 55th minute sending a lob over Narazaki -- who had already been forced to make two saves just a few minutes into the second half -- towards the Japanese goal-mouth, only to see Toshihiro Hattori clear it from the line.

In the 62nd minute, substitute Lee Chun-Soo fired a sizzling shot from the corner of the area, which Narazaki failed to catch, but ended up falling over the ball and attracting Korean attackers.

Yoo Sang-Chul had two big chances in the 67th and 69th minutes, both times falling on the slippery pitch in front of the Japanese goal mouth.

It was the first win since South Korea's coach Humbert Coelho of Portugal was appointed in February, following a draw with Colombia and a loss to Japan in Seoul last month.

South Korea, who became the first Asian country to reach the semifinals at a World Cup in last year's competition, stretched their head-to-head record against their Asian rivals to 36 wins against 12 defeats and 15 draws.

For Japan coach Zico, it was the second defeat since taking over from French coach Philippe Troussier shortly after the World Cup, following a 2-0 loss to Argentina in November.

The Japanese, who reached the last 16 in the World Cup, drew 1-1 with Jamaica and 2-2 with Uruguay before beating South Korea 1-0 with a lucky goal in injury time.