Japan women's defender Saki Kumagai apologized Friday for the Twitter uproar her night out with university students earlier this week has caused.
"I'm sorry about what has been brought on as a result of my careless actions," said Kumagai, who converted the winning penalty shot in the Women's World Cup final in Germany on Sunday.
Coach Norio Sasaki also apologized earlier for Kumagai's flammable comments that found their way to the public through Twitter posts made by one of the students.
"It comes down to my lack of supervision," Sasaki said. "I apologize to everyone who has been so supportive of Nadeshiko Japan."
Kumagai was celebrating with the students on Wednesday, when, according to the tweets, she was said to have made critical remarks about Sasaki and the team.
Kumagai was also said to be showing around racy photos taken on her mobile phone of teammate and forward Karina Maruyama.
The Japan Football Association on Thursday issued a stern warning to Sasaki's history-making team. Kumagai was pulled from all scheduled TV appearances.
Sasaki said he spoke to Kumagai, who appeared in all six games for the manager during the tournament, by phone.
"If we didn't pull off what we pulled off at the World Cup, maybe something like this would have never happened," Sasaki said. "We just have to behave knowing where we stand now."