The national team were unable to continue their winning streak at the World Cup on Monday, losing out on top spot in the group to a Japan side who made their counter-attacking prowess count.

With only one change -Rocío Gálvez for Ivana Andrés in defence- from the team that beat Zambia in Auckland last week, Spain dominated possession against the Japanese.

After five minutes, Spain’s first chance came from a Mariona cross to Aitana from the left, unfortunately it was a bit too heavy and Aitana could not quite get on the end of it.

Jorge Vilda's team dominated possession, but the Japanese were making the most of their chances on the counter-attack.

With less than half an hour on the clock, firstly, Miyazawa broke down the right flank to finish off some quick link up play for Futoshi Ikeda's side. This was then followed by two lethal counter-attacks that ended in goals after Japan had won the ball back off Spain. This time, Ueki and, once again, Miyazawa were the fortunate players to score.

Despite the knock backs, Spain did not give up and they tried everything. First Salma with a shot from outside the box and then Ona Batlle came close to pulling one back with some great individual play after the restart. 

The coach made use of the bench in the second half, but a route to the Japanese goal seemed impossible to forge and Tanaka killed the game with a shot into the top corner following another quick attack down the left wing.