GUANGZHOU, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The spirited men's footballers of Palestine nearly rewrote the history here on Monday as they narrowly missed their first-ever Asian Games goal while host China was unlucky to lose the opening game to Japan 0-3 and made fans disappointed again.
Japanese speedy striker Kensuke Nagai played a big role in the eye-catching game, assisting one, scoring one to help his side top of the group with three points. And China was at the bottom after the defeat as Malaysia beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1 earlier in the day.
"Though they (Japan) were more mature and fluid in attack, we still created many goal-scoring chances. We could have done better if we were more concentrated in defence, but our young players didn't do that," said Chinese caretaker coach Sun Wei.
The best chance for China came in the 43rd minute when a through pass sent Wang Yunlong clear in front of the area. The fast midfielder dribbled past the last defender but his low shot was caught by a diving save from Japan's keeper Shunsuke Ando.
Kensuke, the promising forward for Japan's senior team, enlarged the lead in the 58th minute after Chinese keeper Wang Dalei failed to punch a side cross far away.
He also sent an overhead pass to help Ryohei Yamazaki break the deadlock shortly after the opening whistle.
In the 63rd minute, Japan's defender Daisuke Suzuki made the last shot when he headed a low freekick cross to the net.
China will play the second opponent of the group Kyrgyzstan in two days.
In Group C, the 10-men Palestine not only drew with more experienced Jordan, but also nearly made history.
Jordanian keeper Mohammad Abu Khousa denied Palestine its first-ever Asiad goal by saving a penalty.
After that, new comer Palestine lost no confidence and showed several emotional moments: their keeper and a player put his body on the line to deny the opponents' shots on two separate occasions.
Both sides got one point and was placed after DPR Korea, who earlier beat South Korea 1-0 after skipper Ri Kwang-chon's diving header found the net.
In Group B, two goals from center-back Hosseini Seyed led four-time Asiad champions Iran to 4-1 win despite a determined Turkmenistan fightback. Earlier, low-profile Vietnam stunned Bahrain 3-1 to follow Iran's step with also three points.
According to the rule, the top two of the six groups and other four best third-placed teams will advance to the last 16.
In contrast to the other events, the 19-day football tournament is the longest of the Guangzhou Asiad, which is to officially open on Nov. 12. |
