South Korea came from a goal down to claim a 2-1 victory over Togo in their Group G opener.
The Asian nation were awful in the opening half and found themselves trailing to a fine strike from Abdelkader Coubadja, but Dick Advocaat threw on Ahn Jung-hwan at the interval and his presence prompted a revival in their fortunes.
Lee Chun-soo leveled the scores with a superb free kick, awarded after Dosseh Abalo felled Park Ji-sung and was sent off for his troubles, and Ahn grabbed the winner 18 minutes from time.
Korea may not match their exploits of four years ago, when they reached the last four, but they have given themselves a chance of claiming a spot in the knockout stages.
Korea started brightly but Togo competently dealt with a dangerous free kick and the African nation were not overawed by the occasion.
Togo showed no signs of the turmoil which overshadowed their build-up as Coubadja created the first opening of the contest when skipping beyond the South Korea centre halves, but his powerful shot lacked direction and fizzed over Lee Woon-Jae's crossbar.
Alaixys Romao gave away a needless foul on the edge of the box, but Dick Advocaat's side failed to take advantage as Kossi Agassa gathered the centre and the cross summed up the opening 25 minutes - disappointing.
There was plenty of endeavour on show in the opening half, but little by way of quality and Kim Jun-kyu dragged a free kick well wide of goal as the frustrating fare continued.
The Frankfurt officials opted to put the roof on to combat the shadows and the searing heat it produced appeared to stifle the players, but the game did spring into life just after the half-hour mark as Togo put all the internal strife to one side by taking the lead.
Coubadja served notice of his striking instincts early on and he found his range superbly to strike home on 32 minutes.
The Korean centre halves failed to deal with a hopeful ball forward and Coubadja accepted the gift by controlling the ball on his thigh before slamming a low shot into the bottom corner.
Korea looked laboured in their warm-up games and they failed to fashion a swift response, with Park Ji-sung volleying over and Cho Jae-jin curling a shot well wide of goal.
Park was muscled off the ball in a promising position, which summed up Korea's first half efforts, while Togo were denied a second just before the interval as Lee Woon-jae produced an acrobatic save to push Senaya Junior's free kick over the bar.
Advocaat threw on golden boy Ahn at the start of the second half and he had an immediate impact, linking up well with Park, but the Manchester United man failed to keep his shot down.
Coubadja's goal clearly filled the striker with confidence and he forced Lee Woon-jae into a sharp save at his near post after shrugging off a couple of challenges with ease.
Ahn caused the Togo back-line problems with his clever movement and he slipped in between defence and midfield on 50 minutes, but his shot lacked control.
It was, though, a warning to Togo and it was one they failed to heed as Park dashed in on goal on 54 minutes and was crudely hacked down by Abalo.
The defender left referee Graham Poll with no option other than to brandish a red card and the shock-haired Lee Chun-soo rubbed salt into the wounds by curling a superb free kick over the wall and into the top corner to level the scores.
Korea had a fair penalty appeal waved away seconds later, Lee Young-pyo appeared to be felled in the box, and it was clear that their tails were up.
Korea kept pressing forward and Agassa had to dive off his line to thwart Cho Jae-jin and Ahn stabbed the rebound well wide.
Togo dug deep into their reserves to stem the red tide and Moustapha Salifou twice wasted good chances inside 60 seconds.
The 2002 co-hosts looked the more likely to snatch a winner and so it proved, with the hugely influential Ahn grabbing the goal his second-half display merited.
The gifted forward collected the ball 25 yards out and took one touch before shooting up and over Agassa, albeit with the aid of a minor deflection.
It was nothing more that the Koreans deserved for a second half display which was far removed from their laboured efforts in the opening exchanges.
Coubadja remained Togo's most potent attacking threat, as Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor produced a sulky display, and he shot over the bar ten minutes from time.
The ten men of Togo stuck to their task, but they failed to fashion a final chance and their hopes of progression now look slim with France and Switzerland lying in wait.
The Asian nation were awful in the opening half and found themselves trailing to a fine strike from Abdelkader Coubadja, but Dick Advocaat threw on Ahn Jung-hwan at the interval and his presence prompted a revival in their fortunes.
Lee Chun-soo leveled the scores with a superb free kick, awarded after Dosseh Abalo felled Park Ji-sung and was sent off for his troubles, and Ahn grabbed the winner 18 minutes from time.
Korea may not match their exploits of four years ago, when they reached the last four, but they have given themselves a chance of claiming a spot in the knockout stages.
Korea started brightly but Togo competently dealt with a dangerous free kick and the African nation were not overawed by the occasion.
Togo showed no signs of the turmoil which overshadowed their build-up as Coubadja created the first opening of the contest when skipping beyond the South Korea centre halves, but his powerful shot lacked direction and fizzed over Lee Woon-Jae's crossbar.
Alaixys Romao gave away a needless foul on the edge of the box, but Dick Advocaat's side failed to take advantage as Kossi Agassa gathered the centre and the cross summed up the opening 25 minutes - disappointing.
There was plenty of endeavour on show in the opening half, but little by way of quality and Kim Jun-kyu dragged a free kick well wide of goal as the frustrating fare continued.
The Frankfurt officials opted to put the roof on to combat the shadows and the searing heat it produced appeared to stifle the players, but the game did spring into life just after the half-hour mark as Togo put all the internal strife to one side by taking the lead.
Coubadja served notice of his striking instincts early on and he found his range superbly to strike home on 32 minutes.
The Korean centre halves failed to deal with a hopeful ball forward and Coubadja accepted the gift by controlling the ball on his thigh before slamming a low shot into the bottom corner.
Korea looked laboured in their warm-up games and they failed to fashion a swift response, with Park Ji-sung volleying over and Cho Jae-jin curling a shot well wide of goal.
Park was muscled off the ball in a promising position, which summed up Korea's first half efforts, while Togo were denied a second just before the interval as Lee Woon-jae produced an acrobatic save to push Senaya Junior's free kick over the bar.
Advocaat threw on golden boy Ahn at the start of the second half and he had an immediate impact, linking up well with Park, but the Manchester United man failed to keep his shot down.
Coubadja's goal clearly filled the striker with confidence and he forced Lee Woon-jae into a sharp save at his near post after shrugging off a couple of challenges with ease.
Ahn caused the Togo back-line problems with his clever movement and he slipped in between defence and midfield on 50 minutes, but his shot lacked control.
It was, though, a warning to Togo and it was one they failed to heed as Park dashed in on goal on 54 minutes and was crudely hacked down by Abalo.
The defender left referee Graham Poll with no option other than to brandish a red card and the shock-haired Lee Chun-soo rubbed salt into the wounds by curling a superb free kick over the wall and into the top corner to level the scores.
Korea had a fair penalty appeal waved away seconds later, Lee Young-pyo appeared to be felled in the box, and it was clear that their tails were up.
Korea kept pressing forward and Agassa had to dive off his line to thwart Cho Jae-jin and Ahn stabbed the rebound well wide.
Togo dug deep into their reserves to stem the red tide and Moustapha Salifou twice wasted good chances inside 60 seconds.
The 2002 co-hosts looked the more likely to snatch a winner and so it proved, with the hugely influential Ahn grabbing the goal his second-half display merited.
The gifted forward collected the ball 25 yards out and took one touch before shooting up and over Agassa, albeit with the aid of a minor deflection.
It was nothing more that the Koreans deserved for a second half display which was far removed from their laboured efforts in the opening exchanges.
Coubadja remained Togo's most potent attacking threat, as Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor produced a sulky display, and he shot over the bar ten minutes from time.
The ten men of Togo stuck to their task, but they failed to fashion a final chance and their hopes of progression now look slim with France and Switzerland lying in wait.
