Written off as outsiders for South Africa 2010, the Koreans were in exactly the same position for the 2002 World Cup when they were joint hosts with Japan - as were Greece for the 2004 European Championship.
However, the Republic upset the formbook eight years ago to reach the semi-finals, while Greece stunned the football world by winning Euro 2004.
Otto Rehhagel, the German who masterminded that Greek triumph, is still in charge, even though he is 71, and he has urged his squad to ignore the country's only previous appearance in the Finals, when they lost all three group games in 1994 and failed to score.
"It is a unique experience to participate in a World Cup, but we are here not to just enjoy taking part," stressed the oldest coach at the Finals. "There is great enthusiasm in the team and the atmosphere is excellent."
Rehhagel will be without defender Vangelis Moras, who has a thigh injury, but otherwise has a fully fit squad at his disposal, while the Koreans may be at full strength, with experienced striker Lee Dong-gook making a quicker-than-expected recovery from a hamstring injury.
However, midfielder Ki Sung-yueng has poured cold water on the Republic's chances of repeating their success of 2002 and feels a place in the last eight is more likely.
"No-one in Korea expected us to reach the semi-finals, so now the expectations are too high," he said. "But if we try our best, we can qualify from the group stage and then who knows, we could maybe go on to the quarter-finals."
It is easy to understand Ki's diffidence when you examine the Republic's Finals record abroad. Despite competing at every tournament from 1986 onwards and seven in all, they have won only one match outside Korea - against Togo four years ago.
