Japan 1
Malta 0

A tenacious performance from Malta foiled Japanese plans of a high-scoring victory in their final World Cup warm-up yesterday as the match ended in a slim 1-0 win for the struggling Asians.

Although bracketed among the minnows of European football, the Maltese players rose to the occasion yesterday, making life difficult for the Japanese after overcoming the setback of conceding a goal after just two minutes of yesterday's friendly at the LTU Arena in Duesseldorf. This was Malta's first ever match against Japan.

Keiji Tamada fired Japan into the lead in the second minute, tucking home a left-wing cross from Alex Santos for his first international goal in almost 18 months.

Going ahead so early in the game raised Japan's hopes of a goal bonanza before they kick off their World Cup campaign against Group F opponents Australia today week. Malta refused to wilt, though.

The likes of Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and Bolton Wanderers loan man Hidetoshi Nakata were in Zico's starting XI yesterday but front-line forwards Naohiro Takahara and Atsushi Yanagisawa, who are carrying knocks, were left out.

Dusan Fitzel, the Malta coach, settled on a defensive gameplan with a crowded midfield spearheaded by skipper Gilbert Agius who was assisted by Jamie Pace, Kevin Sammut and Roderick Bajada. Goalkeeper Justin Haber stood behind a four-man defence composed of Luke Dimech, Steve Wellman, Ian Ciantar and Ian Azzopardi. Up front, Andrew Cohen had instructions to roam behind lone striker Andrè Schembri, yesterday making his debut for Malta.

Despite the strength of the side sent out by Zico, the Maltese not only succeeded in keeping their opponents at bay after Tamada's early breakthrough but also created a handful of scoring chances, especially in the latter stages of the first half.

Gilbert Agius, an outstanding performer for Malta before a slight hamstring injury and tiredness saw him making way for Andrei Agius 14 minutes from time, had a dangerous shot cleared off the line by the Japan defenders.

Five minutes before the interval, a fierce free-kick from centre-half Wellman was touched on to a post by Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi.

On the stroke of half-time, Agius again threatened to level matters for Malta. His solo run unsettled the unconvincing Japan defence but his final shot came off the woodwork.

Early in the second half, a fine move involving Sammut and Cohen carved an opening for Schembri but the latter was dispossessed inside the box when in the act of shooting.

Japan, who like Malta made a spate of substitutions in the second half, enjoyed the lion's share of possession after the change of ends but they could not break down the sturdy Maltese defence in which Dimech and Wellman were excellent. Goalkeeper Haber also effected some fine interventions to prevent Japan from increasing their margin.

The 1-0 victory for Japan is a far cry from their 2-2 draw with World Cup hosts Germany last Tuesday, having taken a two-lead in that contest before being pegged back.

Japan will now continue their preparations for their clash with Australia in Kaiserslautern before taking on Croatia and world champions Brazil in Group F.

Japan: Y. Kawaguchi, Y. Komano, T. Miyamoto, A. Santos ('59 K. Nakata), H. Nakata, K. Tamada ('61 M. Ogasawara), S. Nakamura, M. Oguro ('69 S. Maki), T. Fukunishi ('69 J. Inamoto), K. Tsuboi ('46 S. Ono), Y. Nakazawa.

Malta: J. Haber, I. Ciantar, S. Wellman, L. Dimech, A. Schembri ('50 C. Mattocks), K. Sammut, I. Azzopardi, G. Agius ('76 A. Agius), R. Bajada ('67 G. Mallia), A. Cohen ('85 T. Cilia), J. Pace.

Referee: Knut Kircher (Germany).

Scorer: Tamada 2.

Yellow Cards: Dimech; Pace.

Attendance: 10,000.