Japan, China draw in E.Asian championship

Goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki showed fine reflexes in saving a penalty as Japan held former champions China to a goalless draw in the four-nation East Asian men’s championship Saturday.

China’s best chance to score came in the second half when Japanese defender Yuto Nagatomo handled the ball when stopping a pass in the penalty area, giving Chinese midfielder Yang Hao a golden opportunity.

Narazaki later played down the significance of his save, saying he was disappointed with the game’s outcome.

“I just turned a defeat into a draw. It would have been much better if we had won the game,” Narazaki said.

The Japanese, who are preparing for the World Cup in South Africa in June, controlled the game with quick passes for most of the first half.

China missed another scoring chance earlier in the game, when defender Rong Hao’s sizzling shot from outside the area struck just outside the net in the 32nd minute.

Shortly before the break, the home side narrowly missed a chance when Shinji Okazaki sent a nice cross from the right to fellow forward Keiji Tamada, whose shot from close range just went wide.

In the 63rd minute, defender Atsuto Uchida broke through the right field to hit an angled shot, but the ball hit the left post and bounced back to goalkeeper Yang Zhi.

Soon afterwards, Japan failed to clear a Chinese cross, forcing Brazilian-born centre back Marcus Tulio Tanaka to clear the rebound quickly.

After China’s penalty miss, midfielder Yoshito Okubo missed a goal when he fired a shot from close range, hitting substitute defender Feng Xiaoting.

“Both teams played an excellent game,” said China coach Gao Hongbo. “Japan had a shot which hit the post, while we had a penalty chance, so a 0-0 draw was a reasonable result.

“Japan had better midfielders, while we were better in the area. We will play Japan again in the Asian Cup. If we can improve our midfielders and potential to score, I think we’ll have a chance to beat Japan,” he added.

Japan coach Takeshi Okada said: “I was very disappointed, because I wanted to win. We created a lot more chances than China did.

“I really want to win the next game (against Hong Kong on Thursday) to win three points, and then beat South Korea in the last game.”