The AFC Asian Cup 2007 will begin a 23-day competition Saturday with an opening match in Bangkok between Thailand and Iraq.

Korea, which is aiming for its first championship in 47 years, is in Group D along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia.

With the first match against Saudi Arabia next Wednesday, Korea is expected to vie for the championship with Australia, Japan, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Korean national squad arrived in Jakarta on Friday and will start on-site training Saturday.

Meanwhile, the nation's youth soccer team failed to advance to the final 16 of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup after tying Poland one-to-one in their last Group D match on Friday.

Korea went all-out to win the match in Montreal, Canada to make it to the Round of 16, only to end up with a draw.

The team allowed Polish striker Dawid Janczyk the first goal just before the end of the first half.

Even though Korea caught up in the second half with a score by Lee Sang-ho, Poland held Korea to just the one goal.

The draw with Poland gave Korea a record of two draws and one loss, good enough for fourth place in Group D.