Asian champions Japan handed Greece their second defeating in the Confederations Cup, beating the European champions 1-0 on Sunday.

A 76th-minute goal from second-half substitute Masashi Oguro earned Japan their first points in FIFA Confederations Cup Group B.

Oguro had only been on the field ten minutes when he struck with a first-time finish. Japan had created the better opportunities throughout the game against empty-handed Greece.

The Greek team are also the only team in the Confederations Cup without a goal.

The game between the two teams showed a sharp contrast of styles. Both teams should win the game to keep their hope of qualifying for the semifinal alive.

"We lost it and that's it. They played better than us and it's easy to say afterwards 'what if'. We had to substitute three players tonight and for the next game we have to rest some players. My wish now is that players on the fringes get the chance to prove what they can do." Greek coach Otto Rehhagel said.

Rehhagel said: "The World Cup is something else and we have plenty of time until the important date of September 7. The boys will have a holiday before we meet Kazakhstan and we will have a complete team then. It is always a problem having three or four players missing."

Japanese coach Zico said:"Every player had a good grip of the formation and it worked out. Of course I'm happy that we beat the European champions, but we have to develop our technique if we are to improve. We have speed, play good football and push hard, but the problem is that we are not scoring goals."

"Every time the players stood in front of goal you could see that they panicked. That is not a technical thing, but psychological. If they can calm down we will score some more goals. "

Japan started striker Keiji Tamada to partner Atushi Yanagisawa in attack in place of defender Takayuki Chano. Greece made three changes with captain Theodoros Zagorakis rested after playing for his Italian club Bologna 24 hours earlier.

Full-back Giourkas Seitaridis was replaced as he still felt a knee injury suffered in the match against Brazil. Center-back Mihalis Kapsis was also missing for a second game.

The Greek team imposed themselves physically on their smaller Japanese counterparts at the very beginning of the game. But Japan showed that they would not back off.

The Greek team resolved to high ball tactics while Japan responded with counterattacks. Stylianos Charisteas missed a scoring chance in the opening minutes, but it was Tamada who had the better chance. But his weak lob was cleaned by Greek goalkeeper.

Both teams had several chances in the first half, but neither could break the deadlock. After the interval, Japan took the initiative. Akira Kaji, Yanagisawa and Tamada all wasted some golden chances.

Japanese coach Zico sent on Oguro to add pressure on Greek defence line. Ten minutes after coming on, Oguro was released by a perfect pass from Nakamura and he slipped the ball past the Greek goalkeeper.

Greece had the chance to level the score, but Charisteas's shot was blocked by Japanese goalkeeper Kawaguchi.

Japan nearly doubled the lead in the dying minutes when Koji Nakata's shot was cleared off the line by Papdopoulos.

Source: Xinhua