Ri Ye Gyong and Ra Un Sim both struck twice as North Korea defeated Nadeshiko Japan 4-2 in the opening match of the women's tournament at the East Asian Cup on Saturday.
Rika Masuya and Ami Sugita twice canceled out goals from Ri to bring Japan from behind, but two late strikes from the excellent Ra sealed victory for the North Koreans.
"We played the way we had pictured in our minds but gave away two cheap goals near the end," said Japan coach Norio Sasaki, who is using this tournament to audition the next generation of Nadeshiko players and retained only six members of the squad that finished runner-up at the Women's World Cup in Canada last month.