Korea Republic set out to establish early control on the game with Son Seung-min orchestrating from the base of the midfield and the lanky Ha Jeong-woo providing the threat up front.

Ha drew a smart save from Maksim Sarraf at his near post in the eighth minute but Korea Republic worked the ball back for Sung Shin to sweep home the opener, with the Syrian keeper unsighted by the sea of bodies in front of him.

Against the run of play, Syria went close to drawing level in the 17th minute when Aland Abdi’s superbly struck free-kick curled over the Korean wall only to hit the base of the post.

A great team move involving five players that started from the right saw Korea Republic work the ball to the other flank, with Sung setting up Baek Min-gyu to slam home from a tight angle in the 23rd minute.

Korea Republic’s dominance on the ball remained after the interval but Syria’s defence was able to protect Sarraf better while at the other end, a fierce Homam Mahmoud drive from distance had Park Sang-young scrambling across his goalmouth to push the ball away.

Syria’s improvement continued as they pulled a goal back on the hour mark through a cleverly worked free-kick which saw Anas Dahlan setting up Abdi for a shot that hit the bar before landing over the line.

However, that was as much as Syria could do as Korea Republic hung on to take the win.

Matchday Two will see Korea Republic facing Thailand while Syria meet Japan, with both matches to be played on Monday.