Substitute Ji Dong Won became the hero for South Korea in the bronze medal match on Thursday when he scored two late goals in a minute to help his side stage a sensational comeback 4-3 victory over Iran in Guangzhou.

In the 78th minute, South Korea was still in a seemingly desperate status in 1-3. But in the last 12 minutes, the traditionally hard-bitten side showed their spirits with an onslaught of three stunning goals.

Leading striker Park Chu Young started the relay with a cool finish after some intricate passes from teammates.

Then, Ji took the center stage with two powerful headed goals in a minute just before full time, helping his side beat the four-time Asiad winners.

"It's true that our players were not in the best form at the beginning of the first half," said South Korea's coach Hong Myung Bo. "But we played well later and finished our task by winning the bronze."

"Our target was to win the gold medal, but, considering all our players did their best, I think the bronze medal was very valuable," he added.

Iran took an early lead 2-0 before the break. The second half started at breakneck speed and produced two goals in the opening five minutes. Captain Koo Ja Cheol pegged one back for South Korea in the 48th minute but Iran re-established their two-goal advantage one minute later.

However, South Korea laughed to the end with their persistence.

Hong, also a former center back and captain for his national team, said he was impressed by his players' spirits late in the match.

"Before the match, I told the players that we can't give up, while I wasn't sure if they could show their best today. But they really did the job and I want to thank them," he said.

Although the victory was brilliant, South Korean players still regretted about their 1-0 semifinal defeat to United Arab Emirates who scored a last-gasp winner.

"The reason I had been so determined to win a gold medal is that we made every possible efforts to make this happen and trained very hard," said the skipper Koo.

"We have been through a really tough time and really doing well in the tournament," he added.