QINHUANGDAO -- The indomitable African lions were not to be tamed as they rallied from one goal down to level South Korea 1-1 in a close match in the Olympic men's soccer tournament here on Thursday.

The 2000 Olympic champions who stunned the world eight years ago in Sydney, again displayed their outstanding skills and strong stamina throughout the match.

Both teams played aggressively from the very beginning till the final whistle, with fast attacks cheering up more than 21,000 spectators at the stadium.

Cameroon found a chance earlier in the 50th minute when Aurelien Chedjou received a long-range cross and beat the defenders. However, his shot was denied by the post.

South Korea opened the scoring soon afterwards in the 68th minutes when a free kick from Park Chu Young flew over all the defenders, and found the net of the right corner.

However, the Cameroon players staged waves of attacks afterwards and eventually found the equalizer in the 81st minute from a goalmouth melee as substitute Georges Mandjeck slammed the ball to the bar, which rebounded into the net.

South Korea still had chance to take the match, but Lee Heun Ho's header in the 88th minute was inches-wide off the post.

In the last minute, however, Cameroon's defender Albert Baning was sent off for a dangerous challenge on South Korea's Lee Keun Ho.

"South Korea is a great team, particularly their defense," Cameroon head coach Martin Ndtoungou said. "We really didn't find many opportunities."

"We made some adjustments and substituted a few players, but their defense was really tight," he said.

Neither was South Korea content with the result. "We are not very happy, but it is the same with Cameroon," South Korean head coach Park Sung Wha said through an interpreter.