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ASIA - AFC NEWS

October 10, 2002 China stunned by draw with Japan By Jia Ailing Wednesday, October 9, 2002 People's Rep. of China 2 Japan 2 Scoring Japan Miyamoto Tomomi (Yanagita Miyuki) 19' Japan Sawa Homare (Otani Mio) 28' China Gao Hongxia (Zhao Lihong) 48' China Bai Jie (Sun Rui) 56' Starting line-ups China Xiao Zhen,GK Sun Rui Gao Hongxia Fan Yunjie Zhao Lihong Bai Jie Xie Caixia Bi Yan Ren Liping Liu Yali Pan Lina Substitutions made Meng Jun (35') Zhou Xiaoxia (86') Li Jie (89') Japan Yamago Nozomi,GK Miyazaki Yuka Yamagishi Yasuyo Obe Yumi Kobayashi Yayoi Miyamoto Tomomi Sawa Homare Otani Mio Isaka Mito Kawakami Naoko Yanagita Miyuki Substitutions made Sakai Tomoe (46') Maruyama Karina (69') Ito Kanako (83') Statistics People's Rep. of China Japan Shots 21 ...........................6 Corner Kick 6.................... 2 Off Side 3........................ 1 Fouls 12........................... 9 Yellow Cards 0.............. Sawa Homare (78') Game Report Defending champion China national team drew 2-2 with Japan on Wednesday. It is clear that "Iron Roses" could not claim the title of the Asian Games again after North Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 2-0. Japan striker Miyamoto Tomomi came close to breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute but her shot was denied by the bar. Just one minute later, Miyamoto's headed the ball into the net after a corner from Yanagita Miyuki. It was her first goal in the tournament. Sawa Homare doubled Japan's advantage in the 28th minute. Her thunderous shot in front of the box stunned China goalkeeper Xiao Zhen. Japan took a 2-0 lead in the first half. Gao Hongxia, who scored a goal in the last match, repeated her action in the second half. She pulled one back with a header after "The Cat" Zhao Lihong's corner in the 48th minute. Eight minutes later, the WUSA player Bai Jie's thunderous shot in the box evened the match. Japan goalkeeper Yamago Nozomi did not touch the ball. China could not find another opportunity to win the match. They had to accept the final result 2-2. Although Sun Wen, Pu Wei and Zhao Yan could not play in the match, China wanted to win the match to maintain their lead in the tournament. "I am satisfied with the result," China Head Coach Ma Liangxing said after the match, "We always want to win a match and our goal is to be the champion. But we have some problems now. Young players have no experience and veterans could not play because of injuries. The Asian Games was a good experience for the team. We will be ready for the World Cup next year because of these matches."