QINHUANGDAO, China — Norway jumped on the United States from the opening whistle, getting two goals in the first four minutes Wednesday to beat the U.S. women’s soccer team 2-0 at the Beijing Olympics.
Norway looked like the medal-contenders it’s supposed to be, while the Americans never looked the part.
Laursen Kaurin out-jumped U.S. defender Lori Chalupny to head the ball over charging goalkeeper Hope Solo and into an open net in the second minute. Two minutes later, Melissa Wiik latched onto a deep pass on the right side after the U.S lost the ball at midfield. The Norwegian then outraced U.S. captain Christie Rampone and curled a right-footed shot past Solo and just inside the far post.
“We are satisfied,” Norway coach Bjarne Berntsen said. “We are very grateful for the tremendous start we had in this game. After the great start, I think we played a very, very good defensive game.”
Norway, which handed the U.S. its only other Olympic loss — in the 2000 gold-medal match — dominated the first half as a sluggish U.S. side seemed out of sync.
The loss was the first for U.S. coach Pia Sundhage, who took over in November in the fallout of the team’s third-place finish at the 2007 World Cup.
“I’m happy that it’s the first game and not the last, so we still have two more games to go, and we’ll take out this part — the second half — for when we play against Japan and New Zealand,” Sundhage said.
The U.S. played without leading scorer Abby Wambach, who broke her left leg against Brazil in the team’s final warm-up match.
In other games Wednesday:
China 2, Sweden 1: Before a whistling and howling crowd in Tianjin, China, the home team celebrated the start of competition at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday night by beating Sweden. Han Duan scored the decisive goal in the 72nd minute. Her 101st career goal touched off a parade of some 30 flag-waving fans around the lower level of the stadium.
Japan 2, New Zealand 2: At Qinhuangdao, China, midfielders Aya Miyama and Homare Sawa scored second-half goals to rally Japan to a 2-2 draw with New Zealand. Alexandra Riley and Amber Hearn scored for New Zealand, which was making its Olympic debut. Canada 2, Argentina 1: At Tianjun, China, Canada got a goal in each half and used its significant size advantage to subdue Argentina. Candace Chapman and Kara Lang scored for Canada.
Brazil 0, Germany 0: At Shenyang, China, Olympic title contenders Brazil and Germany played to a scoreless tie in the Group F opener. It was the first match between the teams since last year’s World Cup final, when Germany came out on top for its second consecutive world title.
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