BEIRUT -- The drive to training will never have been more hair-raising for Japan's national team. They could have been traversing a lunar surface for all the craters the team bus had to negotiate.
A day after arriving in Lebanon for the Asian Cup, the Japanese squad conducted its first serious training session Thursday at an isolated site hidden among the rubble and bombed-out buildings left behind from the war with Israel two decades ago.
Meanwhile, the tournament kicked off with wins for Iran, which beat host Lebanon 4-0, and Iraq, a 2-0 victor over Thailand.