JAKARTA – World Cup veteran goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae will captain Korea Republic during his side’s AFC Asian Cup Group D opener against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Korea coach Pim Verbeek has handed the armband to the Suwon Bluewings goalkeeper, who has returned to the national team squad after spending a period on the sidelines.

“We have a lot of very good goalkeepers in Korea but Woon-jae is by far the most experienced,” said Verbeek. “We took a very large selection with us and the coaching staff and players are very pleased to have Woon-jae.

“He will start tomorrow and he will captain the team.”

Lee, who was one of the heroes of Korea’s run to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup finals on home soil, struggled for form throughout the latter stages of 2006 and only played a minor role in qualifying for the Asian Cup finals.

But he has returned to reclaim his position between the posts and will lead the team in the absence of regular captain Kim Nam-il, who misses the tournament through injury.

Lee’s experience will be important for the Koreans after Verbeek was forced to bring a relatively young squad to Indonesia after the withdrawal through injury of England-based trio Park Ji-sung, Seol Ki-hyeon and Lee Young-pyo.

Verbeek is hoping his side can end a series of disappointing results, both against Saudi Arabia and in the Asian Cup.

The Koreans have not beaten the Arab side in a competitive fixture since 1989 – although they did down the Saudis in Riyadh in a friendly in 1994 - while they have not won the Asian Cup in 47 years, when they lifted their second title in 1960, four years after claiming the inaugural championship.

“Saudi is always a tough opponent and I have heard its 18 years and Korea have never won against Saudi, so it’s our target to finish that,” he said. “The first game in the tournament is very important but the most important thing is that you get out of the group and go to the next round and we will do everything we can to get to the final.

“Saudi is one of the candidates, they are strong physically, experienced and I’m sure they had much longer preparation than us. It will be a good game and a good test to see where we are.”

And while Verbeek believes the hot and humid conditions will take their toll on all the teams, he is confident the Koreans will battle through the pain barrier to achieve their goal of winning the tournament.

“From the start of our training camp I explained that the climate is one of our enemies, but I’m so long in Korea now that I know my players and one of the strengths of Korean football is that the players will never give up,” he said.

“Of course they will struggle but they will never give up. It won’t be easy because it’s a different climate than we are used to.”