France 1 South Korea 1: France fear 2002 reprise after Park's late thrust

He had promised to "unleash the dogs" and predicted his players would be bolder and more creative. But in the end Raymond Domenech's much-heralded hounds produced far too little bite last night as France served up more of the same mediocrity and saw their World Cup hopes take a massive dent.

Thierry Henry's early strike, latching on to Sylvain Wiltord's deflected shot to sidefoot home, may have finally ended France's eight-year World Cup goal drought but Manchester United's Park Ji-sung make sure it did not result in all three points by snatching a dramatic late equaliser.

Although the French can still reach the last 16 by beating Togo in the final group game, Domenech's hangdog demeanour spoke volumes as France attempt to avoid a second successive premature elimination. From the day they arrived at their World Cup base at a converted 16th century castle, there have been rumours of splits and disagreements in the French camp. Two sub-standard performances ­ last night and the opening 0-0 draw against Switzerland ­ will only add to clamour to break up an ageing team that seemingly can no longer move up the gears when they need to.

"I'm so proud of my players because once again they came from a goal down, this time against a French side I still regard as being a great team," said Dick Advocaat.

"France controlled the first half and took a lot of energy out of us but we brought on an extra winger in the second half and despite all their quality, we managed to grab a draw."

Advocaat is a proud man and keen to prove that Asia's top team ­ wonderfully supported last night by fans who occupied one corner of the stadium but made far more noise than their French counterparts ­ can mix it with the élite several thousand miles from their own Continent.

"A result like this doesn't happen often to us away from home but although we've got four points the next game is always the most important one," said Advocaat. "It's hard to predict how far we can go but for the moment I want the players to celebrate, then we'll think about our next match against Switzerland."

For most of last night's encounter Korea's attacks had petered out just as they reached the danger zone. Then, with nine minutes to go, Fabian Barthez, inactive for long periods, flapped at a deep cross and when the ball was headed back across goal, there was Park to scoop it over the line despite frantic efforts by Barthez and William Gallas to clear.

You could only feel sorry for the exemplary Lilian Thuram earning a record-equalling 116th cap to match Marcel Desailly's tally. On the eve of the game, the Juventus defender admitted his side had not been bold enough when plodding to a 0-0 draw against Switzerland in their first outing. Domenech, meanwhile, had tried to punch home the message that experience and maturity can often compensate for speed.

In the event, he made only one change, Lyon midfielder Florent Malouda replacing Franck Ribéry, with Henry again alone up front. But although the French gave a more alert performance than against Switzerland, they were unable to finish off Korea when they had the chance. Zinedine Zidane, who came out of retirement to help his country's cause, in particular showed clear signs of fatigue and will miss the game against Togo anyway because of two yellow cards, possibly bringing down the curtain on his career in a way he surely could not have envisaged.

"Obviously we are disappointed because we have invested a lot of time and effort in this squad," said Domenech. "But we scored a perfectly good second goal which wasn't given and it turned the game."

He was referring to an incident on the half-hour when Vieira's close-range header seemed to be over the line before the scrambling Lee Woon Jae clawed it to safety. In a way you had to feel for Domenech but it is a cruel game and now the French can only go for broke against Togo and hope it's enough to make the last 16.