Korea Republic’s Park Ji Sung (right) vies with France’s defender Eric Abidal during the World Cup 2006 Group G round 2 match at Leipzig’s Zentralstadion yesterday. (Xinhua Photo)

South Korea staged another big rally to tie France 1-1 in their Group G match in Leipzig while five-time champions Brazil defeated Australia 2-0 in Munich to qualify for the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup on Sunday.

Thierry Henry scored in the ninth minute for France's first World Cup goal since the 1998 final, only to see South Korea's Park Ji-sung level it in the 81st minute.

South Korea, who rallied from one goal down to beat Togo 2-1 in their opener on June 13, lead the group with four points, against France on two.

The 2002 semifinalist will next meet Switzerland in their last group match, while France, who bowed out of the 2002 World Cup without a goal, must win over Togo to qualify for the knockout stage.

After Henry scored France's first World Cup goal off French soil in 20 years, playmaker Zinedine Zidane will miss their last group match after picking up his second yellow card in the first two matches.

Only nine minutes into the game, Sylvain Wiltord put Henry through to goal, and the Arsenal skipper made no mistake in beating the South Korean goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae.

The goal was the first for Henry in World Cup finals since June 18, 1998 against Saudi Arabia.

While the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup witnessed a humiliating early exit of former champions France without a goal, the 2006 World Cup in Germany saw a goalless tie between France and Switzerland in their Group G opener.

The Koreans never backed down. In the 81st minute, Park Ji-sung grabbed the equaliser as he got his toe on a ball that looped over goalkeeper Fabien Barthez's reach and defender William Gallas failed to clear it on the line.

"I'm not satisfied with myself, but I'm satisfied with my team because we got a point against a very strong French team," Park said.

On 32 minutes, Patrick Vieira's powerful downward header nearly gave France a 2-0 lead, but it was kick-saved by the keeper just on the line.

"They pushed and we were not able to retain the ball," said France coach Raymond Domenech. "They wore us out. They're a solid team. After going 1-0 up we were not quite good enough but we have a match left which we have to win to keep hoping."

For his part, South Korea's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat was very upbeat, saying that "In the second half we improved and as the game went on, sometimes we were able to control it. From one of the few chances we had we scored, so we had a bit of luck."
Inter striker Adriano opened the scoring in the 49 minute from a good pass from Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who kept his starting position despite his disappointing performance in beating Croatia 1-0, gathered the ball on the left-hand corner of the area and three defenders immediately circled him.

He spotted Adriano and played a square ball to his strike partner which struck low into the corner of the net.

Harry Kewell, Australia's second half substitute, could have make it 1-1 in the 57th minute, but the Liverpool player shot high above the crossbar of Brazil's unguarded goal.

After Australia had threatened to equalise on several more occasions, substitute Fred tapped home into an empty net in the 89th minute after fellow substitute Robinho's drive crashed off the post.

In the 42nd minute, Ronaldo showed a glimpse of his strength by shrugging off the attentions of Vince Grella and, with very little back lift, fired in a shot that was wide of Aussie goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer's left post.

He was finally replaced by his Real Madrid teammate Robinho in the 72nd minute.

Brazil booked their spot in the second round and maintained their 100 percent record, but it is a flattering result against a hard-working Australia side.

Brazil coach Parreira said they deserved the win despite the hard work.

Parreira said: "We are happy to have qualified. It's a deserved win. We imposed both our style of playing, passing the ball around, and also imposed ourselves physically."

Parreira warned: "It is normal that we are not in top form. We only played three friendlies before the finals and we are getting better and better little by little.

"We played better than we did against Croatia and we will play even better in the next one (against Japan)."

Australia, who crushed Japan 3-1 in the last game, can still qualify from the group should they beat Croatia in their last group game.

Australia coach Guus Hiddink is still confident that Australia can get through to the next round.

The Dutchman said: "We have a chance to qualify for the second round and that would be a tremendous achievement for Australia.

"Even after this loss, morale is very high and we still hope to go through. The players are eager and ambitious."

He added: "In the second half we had two or three opportunities but we failed to get the goal. We can be proud of the way we played. We made the world champions have to counter-attack."

In Nuremberg, Croatia missed a penalty and a slew of chances to draw 0-0 with Japan in their second World Cup Group F tie.

The penalty was awarded in the 20th minute when Croatia striker Dado Prso was brought down in the box.

Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi made a brilliant save diving to his left to keep Darijo Srna's penalty out.

In the 27th minute, Croatia playmaker Niko Kranjcar smashed a shot against the crossbar from 25 yards out, and the ball rebounded to safety.

Japan's best chance came four minutes after the interval when Atsushi Yanagisawa missed a sitter from Akira Kaji's cross, mis-kicking with the goal wide open.

Japan coach Zico criticised World Cup organisers after his side played their second consecutive match in hot weather, in Nuremberg.

After a 3-1 loss in their opener to Australia, Japan drew 0-0 with Group F rivals Croatia and will need to beat Brazil in their final group game to stand a chance of making the last 16.

"It's a crime that we had to play in this heat again," said the Brazilian.

"Our last game was at 3pm too but they want to do it that way for television. I guess business is business."

Zico added: "We lost our way a little bit in the second half.

"But while you're still breathing you're still alive and we'll do all we can to stay alive."