Colombia shocks France
Lady Andrade and Catalina Usme scored goals as Colombia stunned third-ranked France 2-0 Saturday in one of the biggest upsets in Women’s World Cup history.
The Colombians opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Andrade broke free from two defenders for a tap-in goal. Usme clinched her country’s first World Cup win with a goal on the counter attack in the 93rd minute.
“We’ve proved that we’re not just here to make up the numbers. We knew that we’d have to play intelligently and fight for every ball. My players are real battlers,” said Colombia coach Fabian Taborda, whose 28thranked team took control of Group F with four points (1-0-1).
France (1-1-0, 3 points) lost despite outshooting Colombia 21-3 in Moncton, New Brunswick. Much of that was thanks to the play of Colombian goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda, who made several sprawling saves.
England 2, Mexico 1: Also at Moncton, Fran Kirby and Karen Carney scored in the second half as England (1-1-0, 3 points) tied France for second place in Group F and put Mexico (0-1-1, 1 point) on the ropes. ... Group F will be decided Wednesday when Mexico plays France and England plays Colombia. The top two teams advance to the knockout stage.
Brazil 1, Spain 0: Andressa Alves scored in the 44th minute in Montreal as Brazil (2-0-0, 6 points) earned one of the two Group E spots in the knock---
out stage. ... Irene Paredes nearly equalized for Spain (0-1-1, 1 point) in stoppage time, but her shot off Brazilian goalkeeper Luciana bounced off the near post. ... Brazil finishes group play against Costa Rica on Wednesday. Spain faces South Korea.
South Korea 2, Costa Rica 2: Also in Montreal, Karla Villalobos came off the bench to score in the 89th minute as Costa Rica (0-0-2, 2 points) escaped with a draw. ... South Korea (0-1-1, 1 point) led 2-1 after a 25thminute header by Gaeul Jeon and
appeared poised to grab its first win in World Cup history.
Ratings: The United States’ scoreless draw with Sweden drew the biggest television audience for a Women’s World Cup group-stage match and the fourth-largest for any game in tournament history. ... The 0-0 tie Friday night averaged 4.5 million viewers on Fox. The Americans’ opener had set the previous high Monday with 3.3 million viewers on Fox Sports 1.
Gulati defends Solo handling: U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati defended the federation’s handling of goalkeeper Hope Solo’s domestic-assault case in a letter to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who said domestic violence was “unacceptable, particularly for an athlete representing the United States of America on the global stage.”. ... Solo was charged with two misdemeanor counts of domestic-violence assault stemming from an altercation last June with her sister and 17-year-old nephew in Kirkland, Wash. A judge dismissed the charges. ... Gulati said U.S. Soccer did not suspend Solo because statements made by her half-sister and nephew were inconsistent.