Spain's midfielder #06 Aitana Bonmati celebrates with teammates after scoring her team's first goal in the women's group C football match between Spain and Japan during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Beaujoire Stadium in Nantes on July 25, 2024. (Photo by Alain Jocard / AFP)
Paris: Reigning Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati scored one goal and helped create another as World Cup holders Spain came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in their first game of the women's Olympic football tournament on Thursday.
Spain are making their Olympic women's football debut at the Paris Games but are leading contenders to win gold after their World Cup triumph in Australia and New Zealand last year.
They fell behind against Japan in Group C in the western French city of Nantes to Aoba Fujino's early free-kick, but Bonmati soon equalised before Mariona Caldentey netted the winner in the 74th minute.
With 12 teams split into three groups of four, there is margin for error as the two best third-placed sides will advance to the quarter-finals.
That will provide some comfort for Japan, silver medallists at London 2012.
Spain's starting XI featured seven players who were in the line-up for last year's World Cup final win over England in Sydney, plus Alexia Putellas, the two-time former Ballon d'Or winner.
Japan's side included Hinata Miyazawa, the top scorer at the World Cup, but it was Fujino who opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a fine dead-ball strike which proved too powerful for goalkeeper Cata Coll.
However, Spain bossed possession and drew level midway through the first half when Bonmati rounded the goalkeeper to score.
They then grabbed the winner when Caldentey came in from the left and exchanged passes with Bonmati before firing in.
In the same group, two-time silver medallists Brazil beat Nigeria 1-0 in Bordeaux.
Former world player of the year Marta, playing in her sixth Olympics at the age of 38, had an effort disallowed for offside before setting up Gabi Nunes for the only goal late in the first half.
Canada shrug off spying scandal
Record four-time gold medallists the United States meet Zambia later in Group B, in which Germany outclassed Australia, winning 3-0 in Marseille.
Gold medallists in 2016, Germany went ahead when Marina Hegering rose at the back post to head in a Giulia Gwinn corner midway through the first half.
Lea Schueller scored the second with another header from a corner on 64 minutes, and Jule Brand made it three soon after on a bad night for Australia, who are without injured captain Sam Kerr.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champions Canada shrugged off a spying scandal to start their campaign with a 2-1 win over New Zealand in Saint-Etienne.
Mackenzie Barry gave New Zealand the lead before an embarrassingly sparse crowd at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, the same venue where the men's game between Argentina and Morocco was affected by crowd trouble on Wednesday.
Arsenal's Cloe Lacasse levelled in first-half stoppage time for Canada, who beat Sweden on penalties in the final in Tokyo three years ago.
Evelyne Viens then latched onto a long ball forward to fire in the winner 11 minutes from time.
Canada's build-up had been overshadowed after an assistant coach and an analyst were sent home from the Olympics on the eve of the game.
The analyst, 43-year-old Joey Lombardi, was also given a suspended eight-month prison sentence for flying a drone over a New Zealand training session this week in Saint-Etienne.
Lombardi pleaded guilty when he appeared in court on Wednesday. The assistant coach was Jasmine Mander, to whom Lombardi reported.
Head coach Bev Priestman apologised and decided to take no part in the game against New Zealand as a result because she felt it would not be appropriate.
"As a Canadian, these are not our values. We are not cheats," said defender Vanessa Gilles, who described the episode as a "humiliation".
Canada and New Zealand are in Group A along with hosts France and Colombia, who meet later in Lyon.
