Doha: Naomichi Ueda scored the only goal of the game as Japan notched up a 1-0 win over DPR Korea to pick up all three points in their AFC U23 Championship opener at Grand Hamad Stadium yesterday.

Ueda scored from close range after just four minutes to give Japan the perfect start as they attempt to secure a sixth consecutive appearance at the finals of the Olympic Games football tournament.

“We are really relieved we won this game” said Japan coach Makoto Teguramori.

“We really felt at the beginning of the game that we had a good mentality today. There was some tension and a feeling of nervous apprehension about playing the first game but we were able to get over that hurdle.

“There were a lot of things we had to think about to get to this point in the game but now that we have been able to win we have more confidence that we will be able to progress to the next round.”

The Japanese who finished in fourth place at London 2012 did just enough to see off a resilient DPR Korea side who were backed by a vociferous band of more than a thousand supporters. But while Japan’s fans might have been outnumbered it was the four-time Asian champions who had the most to cheer when Ueda struck in the fourth minute when the DPR Korea defence failed to react to Ryosuke Yamanaka’s corner leaving the Kashima Antlers defender to side-foot the ball into the back of the net.

DPR Korea almost responded 10 minutes later when Kim Yong-il’s shot from outside the area was collected by goalkeeper Masatoshi Kushibiki while Yun Il-gwang blasted narrowly over the bar from distance seconds later.

The Japanese controlled much of what remained of the half but struggled to turn their command of the game into goal-scoring opportunities before So Kyong-jin thumped his shot just wide of Kushibiki’s goal.

In the dying minutes of the half Japan pushed for a second only for Musashi Suzuki Yuya Kubo and Ueda to fail to find the target with their attempts to double their advantage.

Kubo hit the post 10 minutes after the restart when he latched on to Yamanaka’s cut-back before disappointing efforts from Ri Un-chol and Pak Myong-song left DPR Korea chasing the game.

Kubo then thought he had doubled Japan’s lead when he steered the ball over the line only for the effort to be ruled out for an infringement in the build-up but it was to prove academic as Japan held on to take all three points.

“Today was a very important match in the group stage and our players did their best to win the game but we lost 1-0 and I think both sides played well” said DPR Korea coach Yun Jong-su. “But we still have two more matches left if we want to qualify for the last eight and we have to do our best we have to do more.

“We shouldn’t have conceded the goal in the first five minutes because that affected the psychology of the players but they overcame the difficulty and they played well.

“So in the next match we will have to be extra cautious in the first five minutes not to concede any goals.”

In another match Moon Chang-jin scored a goal in each half as Korea Republic edged out 10-man Uzbekistan 2-1 to make a winning start in Group C.

Pohang Steelers midfielder Moon netted a 20th minute penalty to open the scoring at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium before doubling the South Koreans’ lead with a close-range finish at the start of the second half.

And despite AFC Youth Player of the Year Dostonbek Khamdamov reducing the deficit for Uzbekistan just before the hour mark a red card for defender Jamshid Boltaboev with just under 20 minutes remaining saw Korea Republic hold onto their advantage to join Iraq at the top of Group C after the defending champions earlier recorded a 2-0 win over Yemen.

“It was the first match for the team and it was a very tough match and a very good match in this context. I am also satisfied with a 2-1 win and I thank the players for their effort and professionalism” said Korea Republic coach Shin Tae-yong.

“We conceded following a mistake by the midfield but even with this mistake we beat Uzbekistan and I am satisfied with the defence however these small mistakes can change a game and small mistakes may cause the loss of a goal so we need to be careful.”