Japan's hopes of lifting its first east Asian championship title suffered an unexpected blow on Sunday after a shock 1-0 defeat to North Korea on the opening day of the four-team tournament in South Korea.
Japan striker Masashi Oguro falls after competing for the ball with North Korea's Ri Han Jae
during Sunday's east Asian championship match in Daejeon, South Korea. North Korea won 1-0.
Kim Young Jun capitalized on some poor defending to strike the decisive goal in the 27th minute at Daejeon World Cup Stadium as North Korea avenged its recent 2-0 loss in the Asian zone qualifying competition for next year's World Cup finals.
In the day's opening match, host and defending champion South Korea missed a penalty and needed a late equalizer from Kim Jin Kyu to salvage a 1-1 draw against China, which had three players sent off.