Japan beat China 2-0 in an Under-21 friendly in Tokyo on Wednesday
night, with goals in each half from Yohei Kajiyama and Sota
Hirayama.
Kajiyama put Japan on the way to victory in their first home
game under coach Yasuharu Sorimachi with a 17th-minute header and
Hirayama sealed the win with the second eight minutes from time at
Tokyo's National Stadium.
"These boys tried very hard in this game but they had the same
problem the men's national team has - score goals," said former
Olympics team coach Eckhard Krautzun, who watched about sixty
minutes of the friendly. "I could see they were anxious to impress
the new coach Dujkovic, but they should focus more on team
cooperation. Only in this way can they have a better chance."
Krautzun, recently appointed technical consultant to the
national women's team, added: "I think Dujkovic will have noticed
what problems there are from watching this game. As an experienced
coach, I believe he can solve these problems. The result tonight is
quite depressing, but I am confident that the team will get better
and better under Dujkovic."
The match was regarded as part of Japan's preparations for the
Asian Games to be held in Doha, Qatar in December. Sorimachi's
charges continue their build-up to the December 1-15 event with
home and away matches against South Korea next month.
Japan joined this year's Asian Games competition in the second
round, where they have been drawn along with North Korea,
Turkmenistan and Pakistan in Group F.
(Xinhua News Agency and sinosoc.com October 26, 2006)
