Japan’s Keiji Tamada in a tussle with Mohamed Al-Noobi of Oman during their Asian Cup group D match in Chongqing on Tuesday. (AFP)

Chongqing (China): Holders Japan survived a late onslaught to beat Oman 1-0 in their opening match of the Asian Cup on Tuesday.

Midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura scored a superb winner in the 34th minute, curling a left-foot shot past Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi from 15 metre after slipping past two defenders.

But Japan, who have brought a depleted squad to China, were fortunate to escape with all three points as Oman increased the pressure in the second half in their search for an equaliser.

Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi made a sharp block to deny striker Imad Ali, who had slipped past Brazilian-born Alex in the 81st minute. Moments later, Yousuf Shaaban completely missed his kick when through on goal and Imad Ali shaved the post with a glancing header deep into stoppage time.

Japan needed an injury-time goal to beat Oman by the same score in an Asian World Cup qualifier in February. This time, Japan were missing a number of key players through injury.

Captain Hidetoshi Nakata, suffering from a groin strain, and Junichi Inamoto, who broke his leg in a friendly against England last month, are among those unavailable to Brazilian coach Zico.

“They put us under pressure in the second half but we defended well and didn’t give them any clear chances,” said Zico, despite the fact Oman had at least three in the last 10 minutes. Nakamura gave a more honest appraisal of the Group D match.

“They played the sort of football we wanted to play,” he shrugged. “Oman handled the heat better, their movement was good and they were very skilful. We made too many mistakes.”

Qatar sack Troussier

Qatar coach Philippe Troussier was sacked on Tuesday, two days after the Gulf side were humbled 1-2 by Indonesia in their opening match at the Asian Cup. The Frenchman, who led Japan to the title four years ago, had already said he would quit after the tournament in China, but the Qatar Football Association (QFA) has decided to terminate his contract with immediate effect. Troussier signed a lucrative two-year deal in July 2003 but Qatar finished a disappointing third at the Gulf Cup earlier this year and have lost to Iran and Jordan in 2006 World Cup qualifiers. (Reuters)