South Korea beat Bahrain 3-1 in their Asian Cup Group E opener on Monday with Paris St Germain's Lee Kang-in rescuing his side with a second-half brace at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
With the score tied at 1-1 after goals from Hwang In-Beom and Bahrain's Abdullah Al-Hashsash, Lee turned on the style with two lethal strikes that had the South Korean fans at the small 15,000 capacity arena screaming in delight.
A stop-start encounter had plenty of fouls in the first half and although there was no malice in the challenges, South Korea had three players on yellow cards in the first half hour - including centre back Kim Min-Jae.
The Korean fans had seen enough to start booing the referee whenever he kept his cards in his pocket for a foul from Bahrain and the pressure paid off when Ali Madan went into the book for a tough challenge.
Madan was clearly pumped up and the winger nearly broke the deadlock moments later when he was put through on goal, but his shot directed at the top corner narrowly missed the target.
But South Korea then took the lead through a quick flowing move down the left wing where the ball was crossed into the box and Hwang curled home through a crowd of Bahrain defenders, two of whom ran into each other while tracking back.
Bahrain came out fighting in the second half and they were duly rewarded six minutes in when Al-Hashsash found space in the box and slotted home into the bottom corner.
However, South Korea were not deterred and the east Asian side restored their lead five minutes later through Lee, who pulled the trigger from outside the box and saw his superb effort curl into the net.
The PSG playmaker doubled his tally soon after when he received the ball inside the box from Hwang, escaped his marker with some quick feet and showcased some panache as he curled another shot past the keeper inside the far post.
His second took him joint-top of the tournament's scoring charts alongside Qatar's Akram Afif and Japan's Takumi Minamino.
South Korean skipper Son Heung-min had a late opportunity to score when he was released into the box but his shot went wide while the Tottenham Hotspur forward was also booked for simulation later when he attempted to win a penalty.
Mancini slams Saudi players who opted to leave Asian Cup squad
Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini criticised the players who left the national camp ahead of the Asian Cup due to a potential lack of playing time, saying on Monday that he only wanted players ready to fight for the shirt.
Goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, midfielder Salman Al-Faraj and full back Sultan Al-Ghannam were excluded by Mancini ahead of the continental tournament in Qatar and the Italian manager said they were all in the initial list of players called up.
"They were on the list. Salman told me he doesn't want to play in the friendly games. I asked Sultan if he was happy to play and he told me he wasn't happy," Mancini told reporters ahead of their group opener against Oman on Tuesday.
"Players don't decide if they play or not, I decide. Nawaf told me he'd come but the day after, in Riyadh, he said he didn't want to come. We tried to speak with him and put him on the list.
"Three days ago he went to our goalkeeper coach and said 'I don't want to stay here if I don't get to play'. I only want players who fight for their country."
Mancini, who has had a storied career as a manager with trophies in club football as well as a European Championship with Italy in 2021, said he had never seen players opting out of the national team before.
"I don't understand when a young player refuses to come because he doesn't know if he will play or not. The national team is not a club, it's your country. You represent all the people in your country," Mancini added.
"You should be happy if you're a part of this group. This is a very strange situation and it's the first time I've experienced this... But we've found other players to play."
The Saudi team for the Asian Cup is not as experienced as the squad that shocked Argentina in the World Cup group stage in 2022 while even Oman have players with more international caps.
"We had these two weeks to work with the players. We know all players from Oman play regularly in the league and they're probably stronger," Mancini said.
"But we're happy with the players we have, they want to fight for their country.
"Oman have good strikers and midfielders, they're very dangerous in attack. For this reason tomorrow will be a difficult game."
