U.S. women complete group play with win

MANCHESTER, England, July 31 (UPI) -- Abby Wambach scored in the 25th minute Tuesday and that goal stood up to give the United States a 1-0 win over North Korea in the Olympic soccer tournament.

The Americans completed a three-game sweep in group play and will next appear in the quarterfinals Friday. The United States is looking for its third straight gold medal.

Wambach, a member of the U.S. national team for 11 years, broke free in the penalty area and scored an easy goal. Although the Americans swarmed the net throughout the match, they could not produce an insurance score.

France finished second in Group G behind the Americans with a 1-0 victory over Colombia.

Earlier in the day Japan managed a first-place finish in Group F thanks to an 0-0 tie with South Africa.

The Japanese finished with five points while Sweden and Canada both wound up with four after those two teams played to a 2-2 tie.

Sweden finished second in the group thanks to a better goal differential than Canada, but the Canadians will reach the quarterfinals as one of the two best third-place teams.

Britain and Brazil were already assured quarterfinal spots out of Group E.