Soccer-Cho scores first goal for South Korea to lead Oman

By Tim Wimborne CANBERRA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Cho Young-cheol scored his first international goal on the stroke of halftime as South Korea went in at the break 1-0 up over a defensive Oman in their Asian Cup Group A opener on Saturday. The striker slid in ahead of Mohammed Al-Musallami to divert the ball past Oman goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, who could only parry Koo Ja-cheol's initial shot. The 46th minute goal ended a brave first half of resilient defending from the West Asians, who had held firm after an initial early burst by the twice champions at Canberra Stadium. The Koreans are heavily expected to take one of the two quarter-final spots in the group along with Australia, with the hosts rebounding from a goal down to beat Kuwait 4-1 in the Asian Cup opener in Melbourne on Friday. Korean forward Son Heung-min looked the most dangerous player on the field and he clipped the bar in the seventh minute with an attempted lob and also brought out a good save from Al-Habsi before the break with a swerving long-range free kick. The Oman skipper was also called on to turn Koo Ja-cheol's low fifth minute shot from outside the penalty area around the post as the Koreans predictably dominated. Uli Stielike's side were forced into an early change when fullback Kim Chang-soo was replaced by Cha Du-ri in the 18th minute because of an apparent injury. The attacking Cha took the opportunity to push forward and wasted a good opportunity when he sliced a shot wide after being allowed to press. Oman's best chance came four minutes before the break but Eid Al-Farsi's free kick from the edge of the penalty area whipped high and wide of the Korean goal. Omani forward Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali picked up the game's only yellow card in the 32nd minute after a needless lunging tackle on Kim Ju-young. (Writing by Patrick Johnston; Editing by John O'Brien)