Giovani strikes again as Barca win in Japan

By Alastair Himmer

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Mexican teenager Giovani dos Santos struck again to give fatigued Barcelona a 1-0 win over Japan's Yokohama F-Marinos on their Asian tour on Tuesday.

Giovani broke the deadlock in the 75th minute, taking a superb through ball from Ronaldinho and calmly beating Yokohama goalkeeper Tetsuya Enomoto.

Barcelona had started with recent signing Thierry Henry alongside Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o in a fearsome front line for the first time since Henry's arrival in June.

However, the Spanish side lacked a cutting edge on a humid evening in Yokohama until Giovani's clinical strike.

"Henry, Eto'o and Ronaldinho playing together is going to work," coach Frank Rijkaard told reporters. "They're great players."

The Dutchman added: "It's very promising. We have a lot of wonderful players -- I almost forgot about (Lionel) Messi!"

Eto'o had a seemingly legitimate goal ruled out for offside while Henry, still coaxing himself back from an injury-plagued final season at Arsenal, was substituted at halftime.

Ronaldinho went close and Eto'o smashed a shot against the post within 10 minutes of the restart as Barcelona tried to inject some urgency into their play.