RIO DE JANEIRO — The first Olympics in Brazil is underway — aptly with a game of soccer in the sport's spiritual home. Just not a very memorable one.
Sweden's women beat South Africa 1-0 in a drab group-stage game Wednesday in front of a sparse crowd of only a couple of thousand spectators in Rio de Janeiro. It was settled by veteran defender Nilla Fischer opening her third Olympics by scoring in the 75th minute.
The Olympic Stadium should be far fuller and more boisterous later in the day when the host is in action. Brazil's women begin their quest for a first Olympic soccer title against China, a day before the men's team opens against South Africa in the capital Brasilia.
Organizers will be hoping the 14 soccer games being played over Wednesday and Thursday will see excitement build ahead of Friday's opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium, which hosted the World Cup final two years ago.
The Olympic Stadium is also known as Joao Havelange Stadium, named after the 100-year-old Brazilian who led soccer's governing body FIFA for 24 years. Havelange stepped down as honorary president of FIFA in 2013 to avoid possible suspension for taking kickbacks.
The advent of the first sport of the Games will come as a welcome diversion for Olympic chiefs who have been mired in the fallout from the drugs scandal involving Russia.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Tuesday called for wide-ranging reforms of the World Anti-Doping Agency while the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected appeals by 17 Russian rowers against their exclusion from the Games.
Torch sails in to Rio
Brazilian sailors delivered the Olympic torch to Rio de Janeiro's mayor Wednesday.
After a 20,000-km (12,400-mile) journey through the vast nation, the torch crossed Guanabara Bay in a sailboat piloted by former medalists, in a nod to one of the competitions where the host country has claimed Olympic glory.
The flame landed on terra firma at 9:15 a.m. (12:15 GMT), while just kilometers away 450 heavily armed police battled drug traffickers in the Alemao slum, a major operation and reminder of Rio's security struggles.
Mayor Eduardo Paes took the torch on its first laps through the streets of downtown Rio, known locally as "the marvelous city." The flame also took a ride on the recently inaugurated light rail and passed in front of the city's century-old Municipal Theater.
From the center of Rio, the symbol of the world's largest sporting event will pass through surrounding towns and return to the city center Thursday ahead of Friday's opening ceremony in the famed Maracanã stadium, site of the World Cup final in 2014.
The torch, which arrived in Brazil on May 3, spurred some minor demonstrations in smaller cities in Rio de Janeiro state, though residents of Rio said they were eager to show the world their city is ready for the international spotlight.
The name of the final torch bearer is a closely guarded secret, but soccer legend Pele said Tuesday he been invited to light the Olympic pyre Friday and was checking availability with his sponsors.
