International friendly wrap: Koo wins it late for South Korea

South Korea edged Ghana 2-1 in injury time and Australia held Serbia to a goalless draw in international friendlies on Tuesday.

Substitute Koo Ja-Cheol scored a dramatic late winner for the hosts, who had led 1-0 from the 10th minute only to concede an equaliser to Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan just past the hour mark.

Ji Dong-Won opened the scoring for South Korea with a fine header past Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingston, his sixth goal in just 11 appearances for his nation.

Ghana were handed a golden opportunity to level the proceedings from the penalty spot just five minutes later, though Gyan fluffed the spot kick and saw it saved by South Korean custodian Jung Sung-Ryong.

But Gyan made amends for his earlier blunder by shooting low past Jung on 64 minutes after being released by Sulley Muntari.

That seemed to have done the trick for the visitors as the match entered stoppage time, until an error by Kingston handed victory to South Korea.

The keeper made a mess of collecting Ji’s close-range header and the rebound spilled to Koo, who blasted the loose ball into the net for an unlikely win.

Elsewhere, Australia extended their unbeaten run on home soil to 10 matches with a 0-0 draw against Serbia.

Socceroos goalkeeper Adam Federici, who plies his trade at Championship club Reading, pulled off a string of acrobatic saves to thwart Serbian midfielder Radosav Petrovic in the final 10 minutes.

Australian substitute James Troisi had earlier spurned the home side’s best opportunity on 79 minutes when he went one out with Damir Kahriman, only to pick out the Serbian goalkeeper with his attempt.

In Yokohama, Asian Cup champions Japan shared the Kirin Cup with Peru and Czech Republic following their 0-0 draw with the latter.

Both Japan and Czech Republic had already drawn 0-0 with Peru and the three competing nations ended up on two points each, sharing the trophy in a rather lifeless competition.

Finally, Singapore thrashed Maldives 4-0 thanks to an early brace by prolific striker Qiu Li, who has scored nine times in 11 appearances for Singaporean club Home United this season.