Japan up and running, Bell's bow ends in stalemate

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Japan began their men's 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship campaign with a 2-1 win over China, while the women's competition ended in a scoreless draw between Korea Republic and China on Tuesday.

J1 League pair Musashi Suzuki and Genta Miura found the back of the net for Hajime Moriyasu's side, who became the only team to finish the tournament's opening day with a perfect three points.

The East Asian regional competition, which features men's and women's championships played concurrently, will continue on a round-robin basis until next Wednesday.

Goals either side of half-time helped Japan claim a 2-1 win over China on Tuesday.

Suzuki and Miura both opened their international goalscoring accounts to have the Samurai Blue two goals clear with 20 minutes remaining, before China's Dong Xuesheng set up a tense finale with a fine header in the final minute of normal time.

The win sends Japan to the top of the round-robin regional competition ahead of tournament host Korea Republic's match against Hong Kong on Wednesday.

With both sides fielding entirely home-based line-ups, it was Japan who looked the more threatening team in the early exchanges, with Chinese defender Mei Fang narrowly escaping disaster when he almost turned a Keita Endo cross into his own net in the 14th minute, before Endo's title-winning Yokohama F.Marinos teammate Shinnosuke Hatanaka hit the woodwork two minutes later.

With those near-misses fresh in the memory, it came as little surprise when Suzuki (pictured above) fired Japan ahead following a terrific team move, which included a precise Tsukasa Morishima assist in the 29th minute, with Moriyasu's men holding the single-goal lead until half-time.

Japan looked safe when Miura evaded any defensive attention to power a header past Liu Dianzuo and make it 2-0 following Yosuke Ideguchi's corner kick, but China refused to give in, and Li Tie's side pulled a goal back when Jin Jingdao set up Dong to score a well-taken header in the 90th minute.

While Dong's strike added a layer of intrigue to the closing stages, China were unable to change the result, as Japan made a strong start to their bid for a second East Asian title.

Moriyasu's charges will next meet Hong Kong on Saturday, while China PR face Korea Republic on Sunday.

Women's tournament: Korea Republic 0-0 China

Englishman Colin Bell's first match in charge of Korea Republic's women's national team ended in stalemate after a goalless draw with China opened the EAFF E-1 Women's Football Championship at Busan Gudeok Stadium.

Yang Li (R) of China vies with Jang Chang of South Korea during their women's match at the 2019 East Asian Cup in Pusan, South Korea, Dec. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

The two sides – both among the top 20 in the current world rankings – produced a match of few clear scoring chances, which leaves the competition wide open ahead of Japan's clash against Chinese Taipei on Thursday.

With both Korea Republic and China in preparation mode for February's Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers, it was the visitors who came closest to snatching an early lead, when Liu Shanshan went close with a curling effort in the third minute.

Although Spanish-bound Jang Sel-gi took her regular place in the Korea Republic starting line-up, star English-based trio Ji So-yun. Cho So-hyun and Lee Geum-min were all absent, and Bell's home-based squad largely struggled to carve out regular openings.

Chinese boss Jia Xiuquan withdrew both Zhang Rui and Wang Shuang in the early stages of the second half, and the double-switch nearly bore fruit, with the freshly-introduced Yang Li rifling a shot into the woodwork in the 56th minute, before 2019 AFC Women's Player of the Year nominee Li Ying almost dispossessed Korean goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul directly in front of goal.

Son Hwa-yeon, 22, had one of Korea Republic's best chances with just over 20 minutes remaining, but she was denied by Chinese goalkeeper Peng Shimeng as the match ended without a winner.

China will be back in action when they meet Asian champions Japan on Saturday, while Korea Republic will be confident of a first win under Bell when they face Chinese Taipei the following day.

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