USWNT knocks out North Korea, advances to the Olympic Quarterfinals

It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t need to be. The United States women’s national team defeated North Korea 1-0 to complete a Group G sweep, and advance to the Quarterfinals of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The Americans dominated their third group stage game, quickly extinguishing any sparks of life from the North Koreans and pressing forward at every opportunity. Yet, despite the one-sided show, the USWNT only managed a single goal. And it was Abby Wambach’s tap into the corner in the 25th minute — off a terrific bit of play from Alex Morgan — that proved the winner.

Wambach, who found herself on the wrong end of a sucker punch in the team’s match against Colombia on Saturday, now has three goals in the 2012 Olympic tournament and a total of 141 international goals. The 32-year old is edging closer to Mia Hamm’s all-time record of 158. She also became the first non-British woman to score at Old Trafford, the storied home of Manchester United.

Next up, the ladies will face New Zealand in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

Olympic Women’s Soccer Quarterfinals

Friday, August 3 (All Times Eastern)
7:00 a.m. – Sweden vs France
9:30 a.m. – United States vs New Zealand, NBC Sports Network
12:00 p.m. – Brazil vs Japan
2:30 p.m. – Great Britain vs Canada