South Korea draw 0-0 with Norway in friendly

OSLO, June 2 (Reuters) Norway and South Korea drew 0-0 in a cautious soccer friendly on Thursday but South Korea's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat said he was happy with the result from a reserve-laden side ahead of the World Cup finals.

''I know from my time in the Netherlands that this is a difficult place to play,'' Advocaat said of the game, in which neither side created many scoring chances. ''I'm happy with the result.'' ''This was not our strongest team,'' he said. ''Five, six or seven of our best players were not playing ... but I realise that we must improve football-wise.'' Norway had most of the possession and play in a game where most shots were from long distance. Norway have not qualified for the finals in Germany.

South Korea's scoring chances included a shot by Seol Ki-Hyeon in the final minutes that hit the outside netting.

South Korea's goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae had to leave the field during the first half for about five minutes after hurting his head in a clash with Blackburn Rovers Morten Gamste Pedersen. He was not badly hurt.

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung, who recently sprained an ankle in training, sat out the match on the bench.

Advocaat said he would field a stronger side in a friendly against Ghana on June 4 in Scotland.

Among Norway's chances, Lyon striker John Carew shot over the bar in the first half after he was played free down the right. Most of the game he was marked out of play by defender Choi Jin-cheul.

''We were defensively safe,'' Norwegian coach Aage Hareide said. ''But we lacked the last killer instinct.'' South Korea, the 2002 semi-finalists, will begin their Group G campaign against Togo on June 13, followed by France (June 18) and Switzerland (June 23). Norway's next game will be at home to Brazil in a friendly in August after the World Cup.

Reuters PDS VP0132