PARIS, 19 June 2003 — Midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura scored twice to inspire Japan to a highly-deserved 3-0 victory over New Zealand in the opening game of the Confederations Cup in Paris yesterday.
The Reggina player opened the scoring from close-range in the 12th minute before captain Hidetoshi Nakata of Parma scored his side’s second goal after 65.
Nakamura then headed home a cross by midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada 15 minutes from time.
New Zealanders, the outsiders of the tournament, lost all three games in their previous appearance in 1999.
Japan will take on defending champions France in Lyon on Friday in a repeat of the 2001 final the European champions won 1-0 in Yokohama.
Dynamo Kiev Clinch 10th Ukraine Title
Dynamo Kiev secured their 10th Ukrainian league title with a comfortable 4-2 home win over Metalist Kharkiv yesterady — the final day of the season.
Last year’s champions Shakhtar Donetsk finished second, three points behind, after beating Arsenal Kiev 3-0 at home. Shakhtar had only a slim chance of retaining the title even if Dynamo had lost to the already-relegated Kharkiv because of the champions’ far-superior goal difference.
Metalurg Donetsk, who came in a distant third last year, repeated the feat, 13 points adrift of Dynamo, after a 3-0 win at Obolon Kiev. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk finished a point back in fourth after a 5-4 win at Volyn Lutsk.
Dragons Win in Kim’s Return From Europe
In Seoul, Brazilian striker Itamar scored twice as Chunnam Dragons marked the return of South Korea midfielder Kim Nam-il with a 2-1 victory at Sangmu Phoenix in the K-League yesterday.
Itamar snatched a 77th-minute winner to seal the points for Chunnam after South Korea forward Lee Dong-gook had given military side Sangmu an early lead in Kwangju.
