Olympics open with football win, rugby loss for Japan; Mito scores 2 goals in 5-0 win over Paraguay

PARIS — The group stage of the men’s Olympic football tournament and the pool stage of the men’s rugby sevens tournament got underway on Wednesday at the Olympic Games in Paris, ahead of the Games’ opening ceremony.

In football, Japan defeated Paraguay 5-0 in Group D in Bordeaux. If Japan beat Mali on Saturday, they will advance to the quarter-finals.

In rugby, Japan suffered heavy defeats with scores of 12-40 to New Zealand and 5-40 to Ireland in Pool A in the Saint-Denis district of Paris. Japan will face South Africa in the final match of the pool on Thursday.

The opening ceremony starts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Paris, while in Japan it is at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Japan overwhelms Paraguay

At 164 centimeters (5 ft 6 in), Shunsuke Mito may be the smallest member of the Japanese men’s Olympic soccer team, but he played the biggest role in the team’s victory over Paraguay.

Mito received a cross from the left in front of goal and fired one side of the net almost effortlessly in the 19th minute. At that moment he thought to himself: “Why am I so free?” In the 63rd minute he dived with what seemed like all his strength and headed the ball in. He said that scoring with a header in an official match was a first for him.

Mito’s playing style is characterized by fierce confrontations with opponents and leaving them behind with his remarkable speed. He never let his physical stature get in his way. That has been his consistent attitude since his days at JFA Academy Fukushima, where he devoted himself to football while living far from his hometown during junior and high school.

One of his high school coaches said of Mito, “I had the impression that he was courageous at the time.”

A video collection of plays compiled by the Japan Football Association shows the truth of this observation. A scene from a FIFA Under-17 World Cup match shows a hulking opponent who could not cope with Mito — who was stubborn in possession of the ball — and forced him to commit a foul to stop him. The video of him taking on foreign players was distributed as training material for the youth academy.

His formidable experience at Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he moved last winter, led to his admirable performances in the Olympics. “It would be great if I could show kids who are worried about their height that they can play as a professional footballer,” he said.

He showed powerful moments of play that were in stark contrast to the cute nickname “Mito-chan” used by his teammates and others.

Team manager Go Oiwa said: “Just taking into account the goal difference, it was an ideal match. An opponent was sent off early in the match, so we recognise that this was not a typical match and want to prepare for the next match.”