Japan coach Javier Aguirre tasted defeat in his first game in charge as the Asian champion went down 2-0 to Uruguay in a friendly on Friday night.
Edinson Cavani took advantage of sloppy defending to put Copa America holder Uruguay in front on 34 minutes, and substitute Abel Hernandez capped a miserable debut for Aguirre by slotting home the second midway through the second half at Sapporo Dome.
"Uruguay are a very strong team so you can't afford to make mistakes against them," said Aguirre. "We made two defensives mistakes and that decided the match tonight."