The epic of a match between Iraq and South Korea went to a shootout after both sides failed to score in over two hours' of sustained committed football.

It is Iraq's first-ever Asian Cup final after getting as far as the 1976 semi-final against Kuwait, while South Korea failed once again to make the decider of a major event.

The victory sparked a barrage of gunfire in the Iraqi capital, as security forces, militant groups, insurgents and residents put aside their differences and fired skywards.

Authorities had warned of falling bullets -- last week's quarter-final victory saw at least three people killed by stray rounds -- but the joy of the extra-time win overcame caution as gunmen poured onto the streets.

In emotional scenes at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here, Iraqi players rushed to their supporters to grab national flags as other players wept with joy when the realisation hit that they had won.

"This victory is for the people of Iraq because they deserve it," said Iraq's Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira. "It is also for the boys because they worked very, very hard.

"Korea are a good team and I thought we neutralised them well. We were better than Korea on the fitness side. It is a game that we will never forget."

The decisive breakthrough came in the shoot-out when goalkeeper Noor Sabri, the man-of-the-match, pushed Yeom Ki-hun's attempt past the post and then Kim Jung-woo's shot hit the upright and bounced away.

Iraq are now just one match away from completing their greatest football achievement after they reached the semifinal of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the final of last year's Asian Games in Doha.

It was desolation for the Koreans, who were backing up after their win on penalties over Iran in their quarterfinal last Sunday. They must now lift themselves for a third-place playoff in Pelambang, Indonesia on Saturday.

"I am proud. We were not outplayed once in this tournament," said Korea's Dutch coach Pim Verbeek.

"We fought like hell. If people think that is not enough, then that's okay."

Iraq had the better scoring chance in an uninspiring first 45 minutes with midfielder Karrar Jassim just failing to get his head on to a cross from Haidar Abdul Amer after 28 minutes.

Skipper Younis Mahmoud had two chances, hitting the side-netting in the 16th minute and just sending his shot wide of the diving Lee Woon-jae late in the half.

The Koreans had several chances with goalkeeper Noor Sabri having little trouble defusing Yeom Ki-hun's tame downward header and punching clear a Lee Chun-soo free kick a few minutes before half-time.

But South Korea ramped up the pressure in the second half with winger Choi Sung-kuk's pass blocked by Ali Hussein Rehema with two team-mates in a scoring position.

Noor punched away another attack away to safety as the Koreans kept up the pressure on Iraq's goal.

Again the Koreans pressed and defender Kim Jin-kyu's header off a corner just missed the target.

The Koreans peppered the Iraqi goal in the final minutes of regulation time but the game went into 30 minutes' extra-time.

Hawar Mohammed had a great chance to put Iraq ahead when Haidar's cross had the Korean defence in a dither and Hawar's shot hit the inside of the post and rolled along the goal-line for Kim Jin-kyu to hack it away.

But it ended in a deadlock that took it to penalties.

Iraq will now play either defending champions Japan or Saudi Arabia in Sunday's decider in Jakarta.

In the other semifinal played in Hanoi, Saudi Arabia made it their sixth Asian Cup final with a smash-and-grab 3-2 win over Japan.

The Saudis relied on their thrusting, rapier counter-attacks to mug the Japanese who dominated the ball without often threatening to turn possession into goals.

Livewire forward Malek Maaz netted a brace with strike partner Yasser Al Qahtani also scoring to set up a final against Iraq.

The first half hour contained nothing more than some gentle Japanese probing with Saudi Arabia content to sit back and hope for a moment of inspiration from their talented front pairing of Maaz and Al Qahtani.

The game got the goal it desperately needed on 35 minutes. Adulrahman Al Qahtani won a free-kick on the left after somewhat typically throwing himself theatrically to the ground.

Taisir Al Jassam rose highest to meet his cross and the ball dropped kindly to Yasser Al Qahtani who needed no second invitation to rifle home.

That seemed to wake up the Japanese who were level just two minutes later.

Centre-back Yuji Nakazawa ran unchecked from deep onto Yasuhito Endo's corner and headed powerfully home from six yards, without even a hint of a Saudi challenge.

The second period was not allowed to settle into a pedestrian affair as the Saudis broke the deadlock two minutes after the restart.

Taisir Al Jassam released Ahmed Al Bahri down the right and his pinpoint cross was headed home by Maaz at the near post.

Once again it took a goal to awake the Japanese and they drew level again after another six minutes.

Nachiro Takahara rose highest to head back Endo's corner for Yuki Abe to volley home acrobatically.

As with the first half Japan dominated the ball but the Saudis were always dangerous on the break.

And on 57 minutes they went in front again through a brilliant individual strike from Maaz, who twisted and turned two defenders before finishing with the outside of his boot.

Substitute Ahmed Al Mousa had a chance to finish the game on 64 minutes but greedily opted to shoot when a pass was needed.

Another substitute Naotake Hanyu almost took the tie into extra-time but thudded the bar from 25 yards with nine minutes to play.