South Korea and Australia played to a 0-0 draw in the opening men's match at the East Asian Cup football tournament here on Saturday, as the host country failed to capitalize on a series of opportunities.
   
At Seoul World Cup Stadium, South Koreans saw their offensive efforts go for naught, as Australian keeper Eugene Galekovic was largely responsible for keeping this a scoreless affair.
  
Japan and China are the other men's teams in this round-robin tournament, which will end on July 28.
   
South Korea will next face China on Wednesday in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul. Australia's next game is against Japan on Thursday, also in Hwaseong.  

In the men's FIFA rankings, Japan is the top-ranked participant here at No. 37, followed by Australia at No. 40 and South Korea at No. 43. China is ranked 100th.
  
South Korean Hong Myung-bo made his debut as the senior national team's head coach. Hong, who guided South Korea to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, replaced Choi Kang-hee last month.
   
South Korea came out with energy and attacked the Australian defense with abandon for almost the entire first half. Galekovic stood his ground amid South Korean onslaught. Midfielder Yun Il-lok was a one-man wrecking crew on the South Korean offense, testing Galekovic with an array of shots.
 
In the 15th, Yun took a nifty pass from Lee Seung-gi and Galekovic denied him with a diving save to his right. Three minutes later, Yun unleashed a shot from outside the arc, but Galekovic punched it out of play.
   
Three minutes before the break, Yun was at it again, this time taking a Kim Dong-sub setup from a point-blank range. His shot, though, went right toward the Australian keeper.
   
Kim himself had a glorious opportunity just a minute earlier, diving to redirect a Kim Jin-su free kick with his head, but Galekovic came through again for the  Socceroos.
   
The visitors tried to kickstart things in the second half, but Dario Vidosic shot one wide in the 54th.
   
After a quiet period, South Koreans took it up a notch, with substitute Yeom Ki-hun dribbling into the opposing zone and testing Galekovic once again in the 60th.
   
Then in the 76th, Yeom launched a hard shot inside the box that went off a foot of defender Jade North and hit the goal post.    

Both South Korea and Australia are missing key players from overseas leagues, as the East Asian Cup matches are not FIFA-protected and clubs aren't obliged to release their international players.
   
South Korea built a team of players from leagues in South Korea, Japan and China. Most of the Australian players are from their domestic league, with three from the Chinese and one from the South Korean leagues.
  
Earlier on Saturday, two-time defending champion Japan defeated China 2-0 to kick off the women's competition. Kozue Ando and Emi Nakajima were the goal scorers for Japan, No. 3 in the FIFA women's rankings.
  
South Korea and North Korea are the two other participants in the women's tourney. The women's event will conclude on July 27.
   
This is the fifth East Asian Cup for the men and the fourth for the women. South Korea won the men's title in 2005 and 2008, while the South Korean women won it all in 2005.
   
The North Korean women's team has made its first trip to South Korea since the 2005 East Asian Cup. (Yonhap News)