Projo Sports Blog

AP photo / Eugene Hoshiko
U.S. forward Abby Wambach struggles for position in front of Nigeria's net during today's World Cup match in rainy Shanghai, China.

By Dex McLuskey

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. kept up its campaign to win a record third World Cup in women's soccer with a 1-0 win over Nigeria today to advance to the quarterfinals.

North Korea also reached the round of eight even after losing 2-1 to 2003 runner-up Sweden. The U.S. will play England on Sept. 22, the same day North Korea faces defending champion Germany for a place in the semifinals.

Lori Chalupny scored the U.S. goal after 90 seconds at the Hongkou stadium in Shanghai. Sweden, which needed to win by three goals to avoid elimination, took a fourth-minute lead on a goal by Charlotta Schelin, who got the winner in the 54th minute after Ri Un Suk tied the score midway through the first half.

The U.S., which beat China in the 1999 final after winning the inaugural championship in 1991, finished atop Group B with seven points, three more than North Korea.

Sweden finished third, also with four points, while Nigeria had one point from a draw.
Two Group D games scheduled for tomorrow were moved to Sept. 20 and away from Shanghai because of the threat to China's eastern coast posed by Typhoon Wipha.

Brazil will face Denmark in Hangzhou after Norway plays Ghana in the same city, organizers said on the tournament Web site.

Wipha's eye is expected to make landfall near the city of Wenzhou late today or early tomorrow. The Shanghai government ordered the evacuation of 200,000 people. In Taiwan, the government ordered the stock exchange and offices closed.

China is hosting the fifth edition of the World Cup after the 2003 tournament was moved to the U.S. because of concern about severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

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