Korea’s goal from the first match has always been to win the championship but a place in Saturday’s final against Iran was in doubt after captain Tatsuya Uchida headed Japan into a second minute lead.

But a response from Kim Dong-jin two minutes later and Lee Dong-nyck’s 26th minute close-range finish following a well-worked training ground free-kick routine were enough to see off Japan who failed to mount a response following the explosive start to the semi-final at MHSK Stadium.

"We conceded an early goal which adds to the nerves of the players who are already nervous as they are young. You can score first or concede first, but I always instil in my players to play our game and we were able to respond and score the winning goal," said Lee Kwang-jong.

"In the second half we came out the same as the first half with a 4-4-2 formation, but midway through the second half we changed to 4-1-4-1 which is the formation we used against India and Indonesia in the group stage as we wanted a system to create space to counter attack and defend as much as possible."

Following Korea’s quarter-final win over Uzbekistan, Lee highlighted their unbeaten record against Japan at this level and he was delighted to see the run continue.

"Because we are close rivals it’s always good to keep the run going," he added.

"I am very pleased to have done that, however, it’s important to continue this in the near future and in the long run.

"Both teams played a hard fought contest, our players gave everything but we still have the final to play.

"All the players deserve an MVP award, but if I had to choose one I would pick our left-back Kim Jin-su for the man-of-the-match award."

Lee must now turn his attentions to Iran, who earlier beat United Arab Emirates 3-0, as Korea look to win the title they last held in 2002.

He added: "What I have seen is Iran have the capabilities and abilities to reach the final, but we also have the capabilities and abilities to reach the final, so it will be a very even match."