A storming first half saw Engesha scoring twice with Jang Chang adding the other, effectively killing the tie as a contest as Red Angels joined UAE’s Abu Dhabi Country Club as the early pacesetters in the group.

“It’s hard to rate our performance but we enjoyed our match today,” said Kim.

The 26-year-old Kenyan Engesha also praised her team’s output, having seen how hard they had worked to get to this level.

“Today’s performance was great. Both teams played well and you see the preparation we put in coming into this tournament,” said Engesha.

As for Sabah, head coach Justin Ganai will have plenty to reflect on but the manner in which his side regrouped after the break and produced a more resilient performance will at least provide some form of positives.

“We expected the result, to be honest, because we know the Korean team is very good and they were in the final last year,” said Ganai.

“We made a few mistakes in the first half and that cost us. In the second half, we played defensively better and it was positive that we didn’t concede any.”

Next up for Red Angels is a meeting with Abu Dhabi on Sunday with Sabah facing Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC on the same day.