Homare Sawa, a former soccer player who was the 2011 Women's World Cup MVP and top scorer, has given birth to a baby girl, her first child, her agent said Tuesday.
"The moment I heard my daughter giving her first cry, I was filled with deep emotions and a feeling of gratitude," the 38-year-old Sawa said in a statement after giving birth the previous day.
Both mother and child are in good health, the agent said.
Sawa, who guided Nadeshiko Japan to victory as captain in the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, married former Vegalta Sendai player and now staffer Hiroaki Tsujikami in August 2015 and retired from the sport at the end of that year.