Reigning Belan De and Etana Bonamati scored one goal and assisted the other as World Cup holders Spain beat Japan 2-1 in their first game of the Paris Olympics women's soccer tournament on Thursday.
Spain is making its Olympic women's football debut at the Paris Games but is a gold medal contender after winning the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last year.
They went behind to Auba Fujino's early free-kick against Japan in the western French city of Nantes, but Bonamati soon equalized, before Mariona Caldanti scored the winner in the 74th minute.
It's the perfect start for Spain in Group C of women's football at the Paris Olympics, where they will face rivals Nigeria and Brazil later.
With the 12 teams divided into three groups of four, there is a margin for error as the two best third-placed teams advance to the quarter-finals.
That will bring some comfort to Japan, who won silver at London 2012.
Spain's starting XI included seven players who were in the line-up to win the World Cup final against England in Sydney last year, in addition to former two-time Ballon d'Or and winner Alexia Potellis.
Japan featured top scorer Hinata Miyazawa at the World Cup, but it was Fujino who opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a fine strike from a dead ball that proved too powerful for goalkeeper Kata Cole.
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However, Spain regained possession midway through the first half and equalized when Bonamati was played in by Athena del Castillo and rounded the goalkeeper to score.
They then grabbed what proved to be the winner when Caldentey came in from the left and played a quick exchange of passes with Bonmati before firing over.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champions Canada put the spying scandal behind them to open their campaign with a 2-1 win over New Zealand in St Etienne.
Mackenzie Barry gave New Zealand the lead before an embarrassingly thin crowd at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard, the same venue where Wednesday's men's game between Argentina and Morocco was marred by crowd trouble.
However, Arsenal's Chloe Lacasse equalized in first-half stoppage time for Canada, who beat Sweden on penalties in the final in Tokyo three years ago.
Evelyn Wiens then headed in a long ball to score the winner 11 minutes from the end.
Canada's build-up was overshadowed after an assistant coach and an analyst were sent home from the Olympics on the eve of their opening games.
Analyst Joey Lombardi, 43, was also given an eight-month suspended prison sentence this week for flying a drone during New Zealand's training session in St Etienne.
Lombardi pleaded guilty when he appeared in court in Saint-Etienne on Wednesday.
The assistant coach was Jasmine Mander, who Lombardi reported to.
Head coach Bev Priestman apologized and subsequently decided not to play in the game against New Zealand as he felt it would not be appropriate.
Canada and New Zealand are in Group A alongside hosts France and Colombia, who will compete later in Lyon.
Record four-time gold medalists United States will face Zambia later in Group B, which also includes Germany against Australia.
