This article was written by Steven Morris, for The Guardian on Wednesday 25th July 2012 19.09 UTC

Some had saved long and hard and travelled halfway round the world to be here. Others had decided at the last minute to jump on the local bus and grab a ticket for the cheap seats. A few were loyal followers of women’s football, but most admitted they simply wanted to be part of a great sporting party.

There had been fears that the opening event of London 2012, a women’s football match taking place 150 miles from the Olympic Park in a country that has sometimes seemed lukewarm about the staging of the Olympics in the UK, might be a flop.

Not a bit of it. True, Cardiff’s Millennium stadium, which holds more than 70,000, was less than half full when the match between Team GB and New Zealand kicked off, but the first sporting action of London 2012 – a half-metre pass by GB midfielder Anita Asante in bright afternoon sunshine – was greeted with huge enthusiasm.

Later there was to be rather less joy from North Korea’s women players, who walked off the pitch at Hampden Park in Glasgow in protest after images of their faces were flashed on to the big screens alongside the South Korean flag before their evening game with Colombia.

For a while North Korea refused to play, but after delicate negotiations the players were persuaded back on to the pitch and the correct flag was displayed alongside the team photos. The London 2012 organising committee apologised for the mistake and promised it would not happen again.

There were no such diplomatic problems in Cardiff. Here spectators had come to celebrate the Olympics and the 1-0 win for Team GB, thanks to a goal from Arsenal Ladies player Stephanie Houghton, felt like a nice bonus rather than the be-all.

“It’s just great to be part of all this,” said Lowri Belson, 17, who plays in goal for the Caerphilly Castle Ladies’ and Girls’ Club in south Wales. “It’s inspiring for young sportspeople everywhere to have something like this happening in our backyard. We should be proud.”

Vickie Faulkner had travelled down from the market town of Llanfair Caereinion in mid Wales with her family. Her nine-year-old daughter, Fflur, plays for the school girls’ team and had been keen to get a glimpse of international players.

“The only disappointment is that no Welsh women have been picked,” Faulkner said. “There are some good Welsh players, so that’s a shame.”

“I’m not a football supporter, but I do love sport,” said Anne Donald, from Cardiff, who had decided at the last moment to buy a ticket. “I wanted to be part of it. The Olympics is all about including everyone. It’s nice to think that Wales has been a big part of the start of the Games.”

Games supremo Lord Coe turned up and made the case that, despite the name, London 2012 was not just about London. “A lot of the Games are in London, but this is not uniquely a London story,” Coe said. “When I came in this morning I felt I was arriving in an Olympic city. I have been to Cardiff plenty of times, but it had a different feel about it today.”

The crowd in the Millennium stadium was very different to the usual football mob. The majority were children, teenagers or young adults. Teddy bears and dolls were waved along with union flags. There was no swearing, no baiting of opposition players and precious little criticism over errors.

David and Lauren Gooley, both 27, from Wellington in New Zealand, were disappointed by their team’s defeat, but they will have many other chances to see them succeed, having booked into no fewer than 28 events. “I’m hoping we’ll do better in other sports,” said David. “Football isn’t our best.”

Hailey Casey, 19, from Vancouver, was thrilled to be in Cardiff. She had travelled to the UK specifically for the Olympic football competition. “I play at school and am very keen,” she said. “I’m going to Wembley, too, and I can’t wait for that.”

The Brazilian fans were also at large in Cardiff to watch their women’s team take on Cameroon after the England v New Zealand match. Marcos da Silva, who moved to Cardiff from São Paulo, eight years ago, arrived with his nephew, Tiago, 11, and daughter Kyara, five. Tiago was given the tickets by his school after being judged sporting personality of the year. “I’m supporting GB and Brazil in all events,” he said.

Antonio Coelho, a 58-year-old professor from Recife in Brazil, was watching with his wife, Rosangela, and son Gabriel. He is an ardent fan who will follow both the women’s and men’s team around the country and was happy to reminisce about Brazil sides of the past, including the one that beat Wales in the World Cup in 1958 courtesy of a goal from the then 17-year-old Pele.

There remained some bemusement as to why the first Olympic action is being staged in Cardiff. The answer is that the football competitions could not be squeezed into the Games fortnight, and the London organising committee Locog wanted to avoid taking the shine off the opening ceremony on Friday.

There were some dissenters. Iago ap Steffan, a Plaid Cymru town councillor from Pontypridd, was wearing a Brazil T-shirt and carrying a New Zealand flag. “I was going to wear my ‘Welsh, not British’ one, but thought that might be too much. I think it’s time that Wales had its own [Olympic] team. At the moment it’s mixed but not mixed fairly. The bias is towards England.”

Such matters were not at the forefront of Cameroon fan Thomas Amunga’s mind. A priest who had swapped his robes for his side’s bright yellow and green tracksuit, he was to be found during the England game praying his team would beat the Brazilians (the prayers did not achieve the desired result: Cameroon were thumped 5-0). “I am going to follow the team everywhere,” he said. It’s wonderful to be here. I love my country, I love my football, I love the Olympics.”

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