WEINAN, China, July 13 (Xinhua) -- China U-16 team lost 0-4 to Japan in the 2017 Silk Road Cup international youth football tournament here on Thursday.
Against the fierce attacking of the Japanese at the beginning of the match, the hosts could only stop their opponents through fouls. In the 8th minute, Japan took the lead with a close-range header by Yokokawa Asahi.
The Japanese team enlarged the advantage with almost the same pattern 20 minutes later by Sumi Kohshiro. In the 41st minute, forward Nakano Keita dribbled into the penalty area and netted the third goal for Japan.
In the second half, the hosts organized a few attacks by Shi Yan and Ban Yusheng but failed to convert any of them. Ikehata Kyota sealed the 4-0 victory in the 86th minute with a close range shot.
"There is a huge gap between China and the opponents. We have to learn from them such as concentration and control of the pace in the match," said Liu Junwei, head coach of the Chinese team.
Earlier in the day, Czech Republic U-16 team beat Uzbekistan 3-1. David Krajinsky scored the opener in the 16th minute. In the second half Czech Republic enlarged the advantage through Adam Hlozek and substitute Davin Pech in the 67th and 92nd minutes while Uzbekistan's Diyorbek Rakhimkulov netted in the 69th minute.
This is the third time that Weinan of Shaanxi Province held the round-robin tournament which features the U-16 national football teams of China, Japan, Uzbekistan and Czech Republic.
