June 12, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1424

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SAITAMA,(Japan), June 11: Japan coach Zico’s final warm-up match for this month’s Confederations Cup ended in limited success as a largely reserve team held Paraguay to a goalless draw in the Kirin Cup tournament on Wednesday.

Zico used only four first-choice players — Parma midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata, Reggina’s Shunsuke Nakamura, SV Hamburg striker Naohiro Takahara and goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki — and instead gave his substitutes a chance to prepare for the Confederations Cup tournament in France, which starts on June 18.

Japan got off to a good start, piling pressure on the visitors who were restricted to the occasional counter-attack.

Nakamura hit the first shot on goal in the fifth minute, which bounced back off goalkeeper Ricardo Tavarelli and Takahara’s follow-up went over the bar.

Yoshihito Okubo was unsuccessful with headers in the 22nd and 28th minute, while Takahara’s shot from the edge of the area was easily caught by Tavarelli.

Japan continued to take the upper hand in the second half and had a good chance in the 52nd minute when Alessandro Santos, playing in the left side back for the first time in the national team, narrowly missed after being picked out by Nakamura’s pass.

A sell-out crowd of 59,891 at the national stadium held its breath four minutes later when Gustavo Morinigo mis-fired and the ball landed on top of the Japanese net.

Yoshito Okubo quickly netted after a Santos pass, only to be ruled “offside” in the 75th minute.—AFP