The United States would score first and hold on late despite being utterly outplayed to manage a 1-1 tie against the South Korea in Montreal on Saturday to open their 2007 U-20 World Cup journey.

The Koreans would pressure early and often at Olympic Stadium, starting in the seventh minute when Shin Young-Rok received a long pass on the counterattack and drew US keeper Chris Seitz off his line.

Unable to make up his mind about coming out to challengel, the RSL rookie had to rely on Nathan Sturgis. The defender was able to get back and defend the volley, which didn't have much on it by the time it got to Seitz, who easily made the save.

In the 15th minute, Sturgis nearly gifted a goal to the opposition. In a battle against Lee Chung-Yong near the endline, the former Galaxy standout had the ball taken off his feet, creating a three-on-two chance for Korea.

Instead of taking a shot, Chung-Yong slid a pass through the box to the on-rushing Young-Rok, whose shot was blocked at the last second by a sliding Tony Beltran.

Just a minute later, the US would jump ahead. Sal Zizzo's cross from the right side skipped in front of Jozy Altidore in the box and found Danny Szetela streaking through. The Columbus Crew midfielder's lunging header found the back of the net to give the Americans an early advantage.

Korea would not let up and threatened again in the 25th minute. Lee looked for Shin once more as he cut into the right side of the box to center the ball. The open attacker didn't strike the ball cleanly on this shot either, but Seitz was still forced to make a diving save to his right to keep the Koreans off the board.

Having unyielding control of the match throughout much of the first half, the Republic of Korea finally found their equalizer in the 38th minute as Shim Young-Sung slipped a pass through the defense for Shin to run onto. Alone with only the keeper to beat, he kept the ball low and pulled the Koreans level just before halftime.

At the start of the second half, Korea would continue to dominate. Playmaker Shim used a brilliant toe-poke to get around Tony Beltran in the 50th minute and lined up a shot from just inside the box. His effort beat Seitz, but firmly clanged off the crossbar after it curled around the keeper, allowing the US to clear away the danger.

Perhaps the United States' best chance of the second half came in the 69th minute. Captain Freddy Adu used some fancy footwork to get by two defenders and rolled a pass into the box where Zizzo was stationed. The UCLA Bruin's first touch was poor and brought the ball back into the middle, allowing the defense time to recover and block his shot.

Seitz came up big in the 76th minute, making the initial save on Ha Tae-Goon after he broke through the US defense. As Ha got back to his feet, Seitz scrambled to block the second chance shot, and the Korean's left-footed effort rattled the side netting as the Americans dodged another bullet.

Just three minutes from time, Lee beat the US backline again and looked set to give Korea three points. He tried to poke the ball around the keeper, but Seitz got a piece to tip away.

Lee recovered near the endline to play perfectly into the middle for Ha. With three American defenders surrounding him, however, he never made it to the ball as it got caught underneath a sliding Julian Valentin, which allowed Seitz time to come out and grab the ball.

Korea pressured until the final whistle, but was unable to come up with the go-ahead goal and were forced to settle for the tie toopen their Group D campaign.

Scoring
USA - Danny Szetela 1 (Sal Zizzo) 16'
KOR - Shin Yong-Rok 1 (Shim Young-Sung) 38'

Line-ups
USA - Chris Seitz; Tim Ward, Nathan Sturgis, , Julian Valentin, Tony Beltran, Michael Bradley, Danny Szetela (Dax McCarty 52'), Freddy Adu, Robbie Rogers, Josmer Altidore, Sal Zizzo

KOR - Kim Jin-Hyeon, Choi Chul-Soon, Shin Kwang-Hoon, Ki Sung-Yueng, Kim Dong-Suk (Song Jin-Hyung 70'), Lee Sang-Ho, Shim Young-Sung (Lee Hyun-Seung 84'), Park Joo-Ho, Lee Chung-Yong, Shin Young-Rok (Ha Tae-Goon 59'), Bae Seung Jin