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Spain coach Vicente del Bosque made nine changes to the starting XI that took on Saudi Arabia last Saturday, with Cesc Fabregas the highest profile inclusion as he slotted in to the centre of midfield.

But just like it was against the Saudi’s, La Furia Roja started slowly and it was the South Koreans who had the first crack at goal after seven minutes but Jae Sung’s long range effort was easily saved by Pepe Reina.

The Liverpool shot stopper had to be alert again moments later when he rushed off his line to intercept a long ball from Chung-Yong, and just minutes after that, Jung Woo almost opened the scoring when his low piledriver from 20 yards out flashed just inches wide of Reina’s right post.

Spain’s most threatening player was undoubtedly Jesus Navas, who marauded down the right flank countless times but his crosses into the box failed to find his intended target.

By the 20th minute, the European champions started to control the game with their usual patient passing build up. And they carved out their first chance on 22 minutes when Andres Iniesta toe-poked a through ball to Mata, but the Valencia forward had the ball robbed off him just as he was about to pull the trigger. Llorente then headed over from a Fabregas freekick, but it was Cesc himself who had the best chance of breaking the deadlock in the 34th minute.

A brilliant passing move between Joan Capevila and Mata opened up a clear view on goal for Fabregas, but the Arsenal captain’s shot from the edge of the box clipped the top of the bar. Five minutes later, Fernando Llorente dragged his shot through a crowd of defenders wide after good work by Fabregas.

Jesus Navas had a chance himself on 40 minutes when he breezed past two defenders down the right channel and let fly with a shot from a tight angle which just smacked into the side netting.

But it was the Asians who almost took a lead right at the end of the half. First, Chu-Young’s dash towards goal was smothered by Reina in a one-on-one, before the Spanish custodian flapped away Chung-Yong’s lob from the follow up.

That was Reina’s last contribution in the game as La Roja coach Del Bosque sent in Victor Valdes for the second half, while his counterpart Jung-Moo did likewise as he replaced Woon Jae with Sung-Ryong in goal for the Koreans.

Spain again started the half sloppily and the Taeguk Warriors almost stunned their European rivals two minutes into the restart. An error by Raul Albiol allowed Chu-Young to ghost in behind the backline, but he miscued his volley right in front of goal and Valdes had the easiest first touch of the game as he collected comfortably.

With the Spaniards struggling to impose themselves in the second period, Del Bosque threw in his big guns as Xavi, David Villa, Xabi Alonso and Pedro were all introduced.

Javi Martinez should have scored for Spain on 67 minutes when Jesus Navas and Xabi Alonso combined to tee up the Athletic Bilbao midfielder, but he ballooned his shot from 12 yards out. Navas then carved out an opening for himself when he checked past his marker and powered into the box, but his low shot from angle was kept out by Sung-Ryong’s kick-save.

With eight minutes remaining, South Korea almost scored. Sung-Yong’s set-piece deliver found Jung-Soo, but his header just flashed wide of an open goal after Valdes came to claim but was beaten in the air.

Straight to the other end, Sung-Ryong made a stunning reflex block to deny David Villa, but the South Koreans failed to clear their lines as Jesus Navas picked up the rebound and drilled in a sensational 25-yard screamer right into the top corner to put Spain ahead.

Neither side pushed too hard after that and the solitary strike from Navas proved to be the winning goal as La Roja picked up another marginal victory ahead of the World Cup finals.