Lucky England beat Japan

LONDON (AP):

England missed a penalty and needed two own goals to beat Japan 2-1 in World Cup warm-up action yesterday, while Cte d'Ivoire surrendered a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Paraguay.

Japan's Marcus Tanaka scored a goal for each team and Yuji Nakazawa deflected a cross past his own keeper, who earlier saved Frank Lampard's penalty.

Although Chelsea star Didier Drogba scored the first of two Cte d'Ivoire goals, Aureliano Torres equalised with a minute to go to complete Paraguay's fightback.

In other games involving World Cup sides, Mexico outplayed non-qualifier the Gambia 5-1 with two goals each by Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Bautista, but South Korea were beaten 1-0 by Belarus.

After Tanaka had exposed some poor England set-piece defending to give Japan a seventh-minute lead, it got worse for Fabio Capello's team when Lampard had a penalty blocked by goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. But Tanaka headed a cross by Joe Cole into his own net in the 72nd minute and Nakazawa deflected a cross by Ashley Cole past his goalkeeper in the 83rd.

Second half

"I am happy for the second half. I think we played better, faster. We found the space," said Capello, who will name his final squad of 23 on deadline day tomorrow.

"(In the first) we played too slow, passes wide. It was easy for the Japanese to defend."

Paraguay hit back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Cte d'Ivoire in the French town of Thonon-les-Bains.

After Drogba and Souleymane Bamba had fired the Ivorians 2-0 ahead by the 73rd minute, Lucas Barrios replied in the 75th and Torres equalised in the 89th.

"I think everybody understands the message the coach is trying to deliver," Drogba said. "We're still working and we still have some things to change."

Paraguay face Italy, New Zealand and Slovakia in the World Cup group stage and Cte d'Ivoire, now coached by Sven-Goran Eriksson, face Brazil, Portugal and North Korea.

Hernandez, who is headed for Manchester United, and Bautista scored two goals each in Mexico's victory over non-qualifier Gambia at Bayreuth, Germany. Alberto Medina added the fifth for Mexico, which open at the World Cup against host South Africa on June 11 and then meet former champions France and Uruguay.

In the Austrian town of Kufstein, Syarhey Kislyak's 53rd-minute goal gave non-qualifier Belarus a 1-0 victory and ended South Korea's four-game winning streak, which included victories over Cte d'Ivoire and Japan.