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)