In a game that was delayed for almost 25 minutes due to an 85th minute power failure at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Al Qahtani's penalty cancelled out Choi Sung-kuk's 66th-minute header to earn both teams a point from their tournament opener.

The emergency lights in the stadium came on as the game was reaching its climax, leaving players and fans in the shade.

The Saudis had been the quicker of the two teams out of the blocks when the game kicked off, as Malek Maaz's pace saw him sear down the left before firing in a cross that was the perfect height for Al Qahtani, but the Al Hilal man could only glance his header across the face of goal.

That was an early wake-up call for the Koreans and from there the half became an intriguing midfield battle.

Choi Sung-kuk had a lively start with his speed and trickery keeping the Saudi defence on their toes while at the other end a break through midfield by Ahmed Al Mousa in the 25th minute set up Maaz, but his shot was bundled round the post by Lee Woon-jae.

Cho Jae-jin threatened with a header two minutes later before almost claiming he spectacular opener three minutes ahead of the break when his overhead attempt following Oh Beom-seok's cross was tipped over the bar by Yasser Al Mosailem.

With barely seconds left in the half, Al Mosailem was called into action again when Kim Chi-woo fired in a low shot which bounced in front of the Al Ahli goalkeeper, who used his legs to clear.

Maaz continued to look the Saudi most likely to score in the second half when, seven minutes after the restart he capitalised on an error by Oh Beom-seok to take possession 35 yards from goal, only to fire off a shot that went just wide.

Cho saw his header from Yeom's free-kick go just wide six minutes later before Choi gave the Koreans the lead in the 66th minute.

Al Mousa was caught ball watching as Yeom's centre came in from the left and the Seongnam Ilhwa man crashed his header beyond the reach of Al Mosailem.

The goal was Choi's last contribution to the game as he made way for Lee Chun-soo immediately after the restart, but it took the Saudis only 11 minutes to pull level.

Maaz was confronted by Oh just inside the penalty area and, as he tried to go round the Pohang Steelers midfielder, the Al Ahli man went to the ground and the referee pointed to the spot.

From there, Al Qahtani - who had been virtually anonymous throughout the game - sent Lee the wrong way to earn the Saudis a point before the stadium was plunged into darkness.

When the game resumed, Saad Al Harthi fired off a long-range attempt in the first minute of injury time that Lee did well to save, while seconds later he had another chance to win the game for the Saudis, only to fire into the side netting.