The early fillip allowed South Korea to dictate the tempo of the first half, with full-backs Lee Young-pyo and Cha Doo-ri pushing forward at every opportunity, while British-based duo Park Ji-sung and Ki Sung-yueng dominated the experienced Greek pairing of Karagounis and Katsouranis in midfield.
Brown had returned to the Celtic midfield in place of Ki Sung-Yeung, while Charlie Mulgrew, Shaun Maloney and Cha Du-Ri came in for Mark Wilson, Georgios Samaras and the injured Emilio Izaguirre.