Japan's Under-23s produced a gritty performance to hold the Russian national team to a 1-1 draw at home in a build-up match for the Athens Olympics Asian qualifiers on Wednesday evening.
Daiki Takamatsu fired Japan in front after good work from Marcus Tulio Tanaka but Dimitri Boulykin earned a share of the spoils for the Euro 2004 finalists shortly before halftime at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa.
Japan, which drew 1-1 with Iran's U-23s on Sunday, made a nervy start and Russia almost took the lead when captain Victor Onopko saw his header come back off the crossbar with Japan goalkeeper Takaya Kurokawa beaten.
Kurokawa then had to be alert to beat away a low shot from Eduard Mor in the 17th minute.