Lee, who tortured the Uzbeks throughout the game with his pace and trickery on the left flank, collected a headed pass from Ha Tae-goon inside the box and whipped across a stunning left-foot volley that found the net in the 79th minute.

Lee's excellent winner avoided Park further embarrassment in a debut that took place in a half-empty Seoul World Cup Stadium, normally full with a crimson tide of thunderous supporters for international matches.

Many football fans, led by members of the national team fan club Red Devils, boycotted the match to protest the Korean Football Association's hiring of Park as the Olympic team coach earlier this month.

Park had started as the manager of local club Busan I'Park just a month earlier before taking the U23 job, and football fans have been criticizing the coach and football authorities for their ``disrespect'' of the domestic football league.

A convincing win against the underdog Uzbeks would have helped Park to quiet the talk about his controversial hiring, but the Koreans put up an uninspiring performance that displayed an alarming lack of creativity and urgency.

The Koreans opened the game by pounding the ball to the flanks to take advantage of the speed of its wingers, with Lee and full-back Choi Chul-soon picking apart the Uzbek defense on the left side of the box.

However, the striker duo of Han Dong-won and Ha Tae-goon failed to capitalize on early goal scoring opportunities created for them, and the Korean attack became increasingly predictable with the dismal play of central midfielder Baek Ji-hoon and right wing Kim Seung-yong killing the team's offensive flow.

Han missed a chance to put the team ahead in the 34th minute when he won a ball in air from Uzbek goalkeeper Aziz Ashurov, took the ball a step left and twirled a left-footed volley from close range that went wide. Ha botched another chance in the 41st minute when his uncontested header from close range off a cross from Lee sailed high above the crossbar.

Uzbekistan, which had most of its players behind the ball for most of the first half, put themselves ahead in the 46th minute when a Korean defender knocked the ball in his own net while attempting to clear a free-kick attempt.

Hoping to breathe life into the offense, Park pulled the struggling Han in the 52nd minute and replaced him with 20-year-old forward Lee Sang-ho. The momentum shifted toward the Korean side five minutes later when an Uzbek defender was sent off for tackling Lee Keun-ho from behind.

Lee Sang-ho repaid his coaches trust when he headed home the equalizer off a free kick from Kim in the 72nd minute, seven minutes before Lee Keun-ho sealed the win.