Japan's J-League teams shrugged off the chaos caused by last month's horrific earthquake to grind out valuable draws on Wednesday, completing a successful AFC Champions League week for the nation. Kashima Antlers, whose stadium was damaged in the disaster and which sent home foreign players as a nuclear crisis unfolded, earned a crucial away point with a 1-1 against Group H table-toppers Suwon Bluewings.
And J-League champions Nagoya Grampus held FC Seoul 1-1 to cost the Group F pace-setters their first points of the campaign. On Tuesday, Japan's Cerezo Osaka beat 2006 champions Jeonbuk Motors of Korea 1-0. The results come despite a suspension of the J-League until mid-April, to avoid sucking electricity from the crippled national grid, while Japan have provisionally withdrawn from their guest spot at South America's Copa America. In Suwon, Yeom Ki-Hoon put the Bluewings ahead on 67 minutes only for veteran Koji Nakata, whose "Hand of Koji" handballed goal controversially helped Japan win the 2004 Asian Cup title, to equalise four minutes later.
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