QINHUANGDAO, East China, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese women's football team led China 1-0 in the quarterfinal at the Olympic football tournament here on Friday.

In the 16th minute, Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa outjumped defender Zhang Ying and headed Aya Miyama's corner cross into the net.

But Japanese captain Hiromi Ikeda almost sent China a gift in the 45th minute, when she sent a pass back to goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto, who was heading up but missed the ball. However, the ball went off the baseline.

The best minute for Chinese came in the injury time, when midfielder Bi Yan's corner cross created a melee in front of the goalmouth. However, Li Jie finished the ball over the bar.

Chinese looked a bit out of form in the first half, and left the mid-field to the Japanese side. Chinese had only two shot in the first half, while the Japanese had 9 shots. Enditem