Nadeshiko Japan suffered a 2-1 loss to Spain in their first Olympic women's soccer Group C match at the Paris Games on Thursday, July 25 in Nantes, France.
Aoba Fujino staked Japan to a 1-0 lead on a curling free kick in the 13th minute, but the Spaniards stormed back for the victory.
Midfielder Aitana Bonmati, the winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2023, leveled for Spain in the 22nd minute when she put a through ball into the back of the net.
The match remained knotted 1-1 until Mariona Caldentey got open inside the area in the 74th minute and drove home a shot into the right corner for the decisive score at La Beaujoire Stadium.
Spain dominated possession in the contest, taking 15 shots on goal to just three for Japan.
Japan captain Saki Kumagai said the loss was tough to take.
"We wanted to get a point but we couldn't hold on, which is really disappointing," Kumagai was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.
She added, "We only have two days to rest before the next game and have no time to drop our heads."
Japan will next take on Brazil on Sunday at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
Rugby Sevens
Japan Men Fall to 0-4 at Paris Olympics
Japan suffered a pair of lopsided defeats in men's rugby sevens competition on Thursday, July 25, falling 49-5 to South Africa in their first match of the day, before going down 42-7 to Samoa in their ninth-place semifinal battle later in the day.
South Africa hammered Japan with seven tries in their victory, with Tristan Leyds, Shilton van Wyk and Ryan Oosthuizen scoring two each in Saint-Denis, France. Japan's lone try came from Kazuma Ueda.
"If we don't attack, nothing happens," Ueda was quoted as saying after the loss. "We need to come together as a team and spend more time on the attack."
Paul Scanlan led Samoa with two of the team's six tries, while Yoshihiro Noguchi scored a try for Japan in its loss.
Samoa led 14-7 at the break, before outscoring Japan 28-0 in the second half.
Japan was eliminated from quarterfinal contention on Wednesday, following losses to New Zealand and Ireland.
The Samoans will face Kenya on Saturday for ninth place. Japan will take on Uruguay in the 11th-place playoff the same day.
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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