HOPE Powell hailed her “history makers” last night after Great Britain launched their Olympic campaign with a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Cardiff.

Steph Houghton curled home a superb 65th-minute free-kick which, given the nature of this 12-team competition, is almost enough to secure a quarterfinal berth.

However, as the very first match GB have played in women’s football, and the first event of the entire Olympics , Powell knows GB have made a statement that can never be erased.

“The girls have made history,” she said. "It has been mentioned so much we couldn't ignore it. We were the first women’s GB team ever and we won. That will never change.”

Despite the FA’s pre-match claim that over 31,000 tickets had been sold, the official attendance of 24,549 meant that it wasn’t the UK record for a women’s international the game had been billed as.