The Koreans take on Jorvan Vieira's team in the heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Jalil Stadium just three days after being taken to extra-time and penalties by Iran before winning 4-2 in a shoot-out.

And with the Iraqis completing their quarter-final win over Vietnam on Saturday, Verbeek believes the extra 24 hours may give his opponents an advantage.

"We have had one day less rest than Iraq and in the game I saw against Vietnam they had an easier match than us, so it will be a tough game," said the Dutchman

"But we will make it a hard game for Iraq. If you get to the semi-final you have to do everything to win the tournament, that's why we came."

Korea are looking to win the Asian Cup for the first time since 1960, when they won their second straight title on home soil, but since then they have failed to collect the continental crown.

Verbeek, however, has set his sights on success although he refuses to underestimate an Iraqi side his Korea team defeated 3-0 in a friendly in Seoul at the start of the month.

"Iraq is a strong team and we know them very well," he said. "They have good strikers, they have individual skill and are dangerous.

"They have a tough defence, good balance and are well organised and it is also very difficult to defend their set plays. It's not an easy game.

"They have good players so we have to play our best football to get to the final and that's what we are going to do."

Korea's performances on their way to the last four have been less than convincing with the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists only scraping through to the knockout phase after a 1-0 win over co-hosts Indonesia.

That followed an earlier draw with Saudi Arabia and a loss to Bahrain.

Goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae then took his team through to the semi-final with a fine performance between the posts as Korea edged out Iran on spot-kicks.

However, despite his team's penalty success, Verbeek and his coaching staff have not been spending much time on the art.

"We practised it once each before the game but that's all," he said. "I'm not so interested in trying penalties.

"It's to do with mental strength and the Korean players are mentally very strong and we have an experienced goalkeeper who is good with penalties, but I would prefer to win it in 90 minutes."