J. League side Kashima Antlers and Thailand's BEC Tero Sasana battled to a 2-2 draw in a first-round Group A match in the AFC Champions League in Bangkok on Monday.
Kashima striker Tomoyuki Hirase scored in the 21st minute to give the J. League champion of 2000 and 2001 a 1-0 first-half lead.
The Japanese team seemed to have clinched the game when Brazilian Fernando scored to put it 2-1 up but the tenacious BEC team equalized in the dying seconds to earn a share of the points.
In the other Group A match played on Monday, South Korea's Taejon Citizen beat China's Shanghai Shenhua 2-1.