Russia and South Korea have gone into the half-time break of their World Cup opener with the scoreline level at 0-0 after a sluggish first 45 minutes.

Korea saw marginally more of the ball in the opening stages and Lee Chung-Yong almost put Park Chu-Young through on goal with a defence-splitting pass, but it had just a little too much weight on it for the former Arsenal forward to collect.

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Son Heung-Min picked up a soft booking shortly after for a collision with Aleksandr Samedov, while Ki Sung-Yueng was also shown a yellow card for a robust challenge on the Russian midfielder.

Sergei Ignashevich thumped the resultant free kick towards goal, but despite its power, Jung Sung-Ryong was able to fumble the 40-yard strike to safety.

The game started to open up somewhat once the clock ticked past the half-hour mark, as Yuri Zhirkov flashed a shot wide of the near post following a jinking run. At the other end, Koo Ja-Cheol's deflected 20-yard effort span inches wide of Igor Akinfeev's left-hand post.

Five minutes before the break, Son controlled a Park knock-down and cut inside from the left flank, but the Bayer Leverkusen forward blazed his shot over the bar from the edge of the box.

Written by
Kristian Johnson