Suwon Bluewings and the Los Angeles Galaxy advanced to the final of the Pan-Pacific tournament with opening victories in the pre-season event.

The South Korean league champion Bluewings, defeated Chinese Super League champions Shandong Luneng Taishan 1-0 with a goal from Cho Yong-Tae in the 81st minute. Galaxy, playing without stars David Beckham and Landon Donovan, who are both on loan to European clubs, defeated Japan's Oita Trinita 2-0 with goals from Edson Buddle and Jovan Kirovski.

The absence of Beckham could yet be permanent for the Galaxy. Although the Los Angeles club said last week that they expected the England midfielder to honor his contract and return from his loan with AC Milan on 9 March, Milan officials insist they are still hopeful of keeping him in Italy and the player himself has voiced his desire to stay in Europe.

The uncertainty surrounding Beckham was in contrast to February of last year, when his popularity served as the basis for the creation of the Pan-Pacific event when the inaugural edition was held in Hawaii. This time around the Galaxy hosted the event, and Buddle opened the scoring in the 44th minute, seizing on a weak pass that Oita Trinita captain Daiku Takamatsu failed to collect and blasting a shot past Shusaku Nishikawa.

In the 53rd minute, Galaxy's Tony Sanneh was pulled down in the area by Roberto De Figueiredo and Kirovski duly converted with a strong right-footed shot to the left of Nishikawa. The event's role as a pre-season warm-up for the participating clubs was emphasised by the low-key Suwon-Shandong opener.

Cho rolled in the game-winner after Shandong goalkeeper Li Leilei came up empty with his sliding tackle on defender Lee Kwan-Woo just outside the penalty area. Lee then hurdled Li and delivered the ball to Cho.