Olympics Start with Soccer Win, Rugby Loss for Japan; Mito Gets 2 Goals in 5-0 Victory over Paraguay

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:57 JST, July 25, 2024

The group stage of Olympic men’s soccer and the pool stage of men’s rugby sevens kicked off on Wednesday at the Paris Olympics, in the run up to the opening ceremony.

In soccer, Japan thrashed Paraguay 5-0 in Group D in Bordeaux. If Japan wins against Mali on Saturday, it will advance to the quarterfinals.

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

The opening ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Paris, which is 2:30 a.m. on Saturday in Japan.

Mito helps overwhelm Paraguay

Shunsuke Mito may be the smallest member of Japan’s Olympic men’s soccer squad at 164 centimeters, but he played the biggest role in the team’s victory over Paraguay.

Receiving a cross from the left side in front of the goal, Mito hit 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 dove with seemingly all his strength, and netted a header. Scoring with a header in an official game was a first for him, he said.

Mito’s playing style is characterized by fierce contact with his opponents and then leaving them behind with his remarkable speed. He never let his physical stature become a disadvantage. That has been his consistent attitude since his days at JFA Academy Fukushima, where he threw himself into soccer while living away from his hometown during junior high and high school.

One of his junior high school coaches said of Mito, “I had the impression that he bravely moved forward at that time.”

A video collection of plays compiled by the Japan Football Association shows the truth of this remark. One scene from a FIFA Under-17 World Cup game shows a bulky opponent who couldn’t handle Mito — who was in stubborn possession of the ball — and resorted to fouling him to stop him. The video showing him competing with overseas players was distributed as training material for youth development.

His experience playing for Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch first division, to which he transferred last winter, led to his admirable performance in the Olympic game. “It would be great if I can show kids who worry about being short that they can play as a professional soccer player,” he said.

He showed powerful plays that starkly contrasted with the cute “Mito-chan” nickname used by his teammates and others.

Team manager Go Oiwa said: “Considering only goal difference, it was an ideal game. An opposing player was sent off early in the match, so we recognize this game was not typical and want to prepare for the next game.”