US Defeats North Korea; Will Face New Zealand in Quarterfinal
The US Women’s Olympic Soccer Team defeated Korea DPR on Tuesday in front of 29,522 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England to win Group G with all 9 points. (Highlights)
Abby Wambach scored the game’s only goal in the 25th minute on a play created by Heather O’Reilly and Alex Morgan. O’Reilly, after winning a ball at midfield, played a lofted ball over the top that found Morgan in the box, but in order to keep possession the US forward needed to take the ball wide right of the goal. Morgan turned away from the Korean goal and bought time until Wambach was able to find an angle to run through. Morgan delivered the short through ball and Wambach delivered the goal, a side-foot shot to the right side of goal that easily beat goalkeeper O Chang Ran.
The US outshot Korea DPR 16-3 with 8 shots on target forcing 7 saves. Korea never put a shot on goal which made easy work for US goalkeeper Hope Solo.
The win marked the first time the USA has taken the full nine points from a group stage at the Olympics, going 2-0-1 in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and 2-1-0 in 2008.
“Abby scored a great goal, which feels good for all of us,” said USWNT head coach Pia Sundhage. “She’s been playing well and just shows how important she is for the team. We got a chance to save some legs in the second half and we slowed down the game quite a bit and now we look forward to the quarterfinal with a healthy, happy team.”
The U.S. will now face New Zealand, the third place finisher in Group E, in the quarterfinal round on Friday, Aug. 3 at St. James’ Park in Newcastle. The game will be televised live on the NBC Sports Network at 9:30 a.m.
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I thought that the ref lost some control of the match toward the end. There were several vicious tackles where North Korea was out to hit the player and not going for the ball. The second yellow/red on #9 for the North Korean player was a failed attempt to bring the match in control. Additional international sanctions are warrented!
Sloppy second half by the US, but a win is a win!