WASHINGTON, April 24, 2012 – The U.S. women’s team will meet some familiar foes on its quest to win a fourth Olympic Gold medal.
At the Olympic soccer draw at Wembley Stadium in London on Tuesday, the Americans were drawn to play France, Colombia and North Korea in Group G at the 2012 London Olympics which takes place from July 25-Aug. 9.
The U.S. women have been in the same group as the North Koreans in the last four World Cups, and defeated France 3-1 in the semifinal of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup last July 13 in Monchengladbach, Germany.
The U.S. will open Group G against France on July 25 at the famed Hampden Park in Glasgow (5 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET). The team then faces Colombia at Hampden Park on July 28 (5 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET) and will finish group play against Korea DPR on July 31 (5:15 p.m. local / 12:15 p.m. ET) at Old Trafford in Manchester, home to Manchester United.
France is currently sixth in FIFA Women’s World Rankings, North Korea is eighth and Colombia is 28th.
“It’s always exciting to know who we will be playing,” said U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage. “We will start with an excellent opponent that we faced in the World Cup and that is a good thing. Once again, we will be facing teams with different playing styles and that is a challenge our team enjoys.”
The Women’s Draw
Group E: Great Britain, New Zealand, Cameroon and Brazil
Group F: Japan, Canada, Sweden and South Africa
Group G: USA, France, Colombia and Korea DPR
Top two qualify, and then the best two third placed sides.
The tournament will kick off on July 25 in Cardiff, with Great Britain against New Zealand.
See link to draw and schedule here
Men’s Draw
Group A: Britain, Senegal, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay
Group B: Mexico, South Korea, Gabon, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Egypt, Belarus, New Zealand
Group D: Spain, Japan, Honduras, Morocco
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals
Great Britain’s men’s team won the gold in 1912 but have not competed at the Games since 1960. This is the first time the women have competed in soccer at the Olympics. The American team failed to qualify.
* For over 20 years John Haydon wrote a weekly soccer column for The Washington Times. He has covered two World Cups and written about Major League Soccer from the league’s inception in 1996.
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