Japan beats Nepal in AFC Youth Championship opener Saturday, 25/09/04 Japan got off to a good start in their pursuit of a berth in next year's World Youth Championship by beating Nepal 3-0 in the AFC Youth Championship on Sep- tember 25 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Midfielder Takuya Kokeguchi latched on to a through ball from Issei Takayanagi and fired home the opening goal in the 15th minute. In the 33rd minute, forward Sota Hirayama took a pass from Takayanagi and beat four opponents before blasting home from close range. Leading 2-0 at halftime, Japan widened the lead in the 59th minute when Hira- yama chested down a Takayanagi feed for Hiroki Nakayama, who fired the ball into the net. "Our players seemed a bit nervous as it was our first game of the tournament," said Japan Under-19 team coach Kiyoshi Okuma. Japan will play Malaysia on September 27 and Vietnam on September 29 in Group A. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals on October 3. The semifinals will take place on October 6 with the final and the third- place playoff scheduled for October 9 in Kuala Lumpur. The top four finishers of the tournament will win a place in next June's World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Teams: (Japanese team only) Japan---Kenya Matsui, Yuzo Kobayashi, Tatsuya Masushima, Hiroki Mizumoto, Yojiro Takahagi (Hiroki Nakayama, 58th), Issei Takayanagi (Tomokazu Nagira, 80th), Hokuto Nakamura, Shingo Hyodo, Takuya Kokeguchi, Sota Hirayama, Robert Cullen (Takayuki Morimoto, 70th). Coach, Kiyoshi Okuma -- 得罪了方丈还想跑！！ 喝！！看我们的「少林寺十八铜人」！！ --

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