26 Jul 2012

New Zealand lose 1-0 to Great Britain in Olympic opener

6:24 am on 26 July 2012

The New Zealand women's football team have lost their first match of the London Olympics, which was also the Games' opening event, falling 1-nil to hosts Great Britain at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Great Britain had several opportunities to score in the first half of the match, but it wasn't until the 64th minute that midfielder Steph Houghton found the back of the net off a free kick.

New Zealand had a couple of chances to equalize, and their best chance at a goal came when striker Sarah Gregorius got a lucky break 18 minutes from time, but she shot the ball straight at the British goalkeeper.

About 35-thousand spectators turned out for the match, which was also the first competitive match the British team had ever played.