Sydney, Jan 4 (IANS): South Korea beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup warm-up friendly match here Sunday.

Saudi Arabian defender Osama Hawsawi deflected a South Korean free kick into his own net in the 67th minute and South Korea's debutant forward Lee Jeong-hyeop scored his first international goal in injury time to establish a 2-0 win at the Pirtek Stadium here.

The 2015 Asian Cup, with 16 nations divided into four groups, will kick off Friday with a Group A match between the hosts Australia and Kuwait in Melbourne. South Korea, ranked 69th, is also in Group A and will open its tournament Saturday against Oman in Canberra.

South Korea will face Kuwait Jan 13 and close out their group stage engagements against Australia in Brisbane Jan 17.

Saudi Arabia, ranked 102nd, is in Group B with Uzbekistan, China and North Korea. South Korea and Saudi Arabia could clash again in the quarter-finals should both countries survive the group stage.

The victory Sunday improved South Korea's record under head coach Uli Stielike to three wins and two losses. The result also evened out South Korea's all-time record against Saudi Arabia with five wins, five losses and seven draws.