In the sixth minute, Brazilian born goalie, who scored five goals from free kicks in the national football championship, took a 20m free kick but it shot wide of the bar.

Triple golden ball winner Le Cong Vinh missed a goal when he could not reach Phan Van Tai Em’s pass.

Korean substitute Ko Kwan-min took too shots at the Vietnamese net, but were denied by the goalie.

After the break, coach Calisto brought in substitutes Ngoc Thanh, Thanh Luong and Huynh Quang Thanh, but they failed to rally the team.

They were stunned by Korean defender Shun Sehung-pil who fired a freekick ito the net in the 63^rd minute. Ten minutes later, So Go-young woul dhave scored another goal for the RoK if his shot did not hit the bar.

Santos, was granted Vietnamese citizenship early this year, had a chance in injury time, but missed the mark.

In an earlier match, Turkmenistan edged Myanmar 2-1 to the table with two wins.