Paraguay hold Ivory Coast 1-1 in Japan friendly

YOKOHAMA, Japan, May 22 (Reuters) - Paraguay salvaged a 1-1 draw with Ivory Coast in a friendly on Thursday after a wonder strike from forward Cristian Bogado.

Ivory Coast had gone ahead in the 73rd minute lead of their Kirin Cup opener in Yokohama, striker Kandia Traore tucking home a low right-wing cross from Emmanuel Eboue.

The west Africans were playing their first game under new Bosnian coach Vahid Halihodzic but they were caught napping just three minutes after Traore's goal.

Reacting quickly to a knock-down, Bogado smashed a left-foot shot just inside the post from 20 metres to give Paraguay a share of the spoils.

Hosts Japan take on Ivory Coast in the second game of the three-nation tournament in Toyota on Saturday. Japan and Paraguay meet in Saitama two days later.

All three sides are warming up for World Cup qualifying matches next month, although Ivory Coast and Paraguay are missing key players who did not make the trip to Japan.

The Ivorians started the stronger of the two sides at Mitsuzawa stadium, English-based pair Eboue and Didier Zokora going close early on.

Paraguay threatened occasionally on the counter-attack, midfielder Carlos Paredes shaving the crossbar with a vicious long-range drive just before the interval.

The Paraguayans, currently top of South America's World Cup qualifying standings, showed more urgency in the second half with striker Dante Lopez shooting just wide on the hour mark.

Moments later, Ivorian sweeper Marc Zoro did brilliantly to clear a Sergio Aquino effort off the line as Paraguay enjoyed a rare spell of pressure.

(Editing by Trevor Huggins)