The U.S. Women's National Team begin the quest for their fourth Olympic Gold Medal. Photo Credit: Stephen Brashear

U.S. Soccer News: London Olympics Update - U.S., France Tied 2-2 at Half in Women's Soccer

The USA picked up two goals from forward Alex Morgan and singles from Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd to reverse an early 0-2 deficit and defeat France 4-2 to open the London Olympics Women's Soccer Tournament. The win gives the U.S. an important three points to open Group G competiton.

After falling behind 0-2 in the first 15 minutes on goals by France's Gaetane Thiney and Marie-Laure Delie, the U.S. struck back in the 18th minute on Wambach's 139th career goal, with the assist going to Megan Rapinoe. Morgan then scored her first ever Olympic goal in the 31st minute after a feed out from goalkeeper Hope Solo. The half ended with the two sides tied at 2-2.

In the second half Lloyd, who came off the bench as a substitute for Shannon Boxx in the first half, teamed up with Rapinoe for what would be the game-winning goal. It was Lloyd's second game-winning Olympic goal, her first coming in overtime against Brazil in the 2008 gold medal match.

The U.S. was not done lighting up the scoreboard. In the 66th minute Morgan picked up her second Olympic goal, with the assist going to Tobin Heath. The U.S. defense then took over, continuing to shut down France for the remaining minutes to earn the opening victory.

The U.S. will take on Colombia in the second game of group play on Saturday, July 28, beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. That game will also take place at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The Americans will close out group competition at Manchester United's legendary Old Trafford against Korea DPR on Tuesday, July 31, beginning at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Scoring Summary:         1          2          F 
USA                                 2          2          4
FRA                                  2          0          2

FRA – Gaetane Thiney                                      12
FRA – Marie-Laure Delie                                   14
USA – Abby Wambach (Megan Rapinoe)          18
USA – Alex Morgan (Hope Solo)                        31
USA – Carli Lloyd (Megan Rapinoe)                   55
USA – Alex Morgan (Tobin Heath)                     66

Lineups: 
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 6-Amy LePeilbet, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 16-Rachel Buehler, 5-Kelley O’Hara; 15-Megan Rapinoe (11-Sydney Leroux, 84), 7-Shannon Boxx (10-Carli Lloyd, 17), 12-Lauren Cheney, 17-Tobin Heath; 13-Alex Morgan (8-Amy Rodriguez, 76), 14-Abby Wambach
Subs not used: 2-Heather Mitts, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 18-Nicole Barnhart
Head coach: Pia Sundhage

FRA: 18-Sarah Bouhaddi; 2-Wendie Renard, 5-Ophélle Meilleroux (4-Laura Georges, 45), 7-Corine Franco, 8-Sonia Bompastor; 10-Camille Abily (6-Sandrine Soubeyrand, 72), 11-Marie-Laure Delie, 12-Élodie Thomis, 14-Louisa Necib (9-Eugénie Le Sommer, 45); 15-Élise Bussaglia, 17-Gaëtane Thiney
Subs not used: 1-Céline Deville, 3-Laure Boulleau, 13-Camille Catala, 16-Sabrina Viguier
Head coach: Bruni Bini 

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USA and France Tied 2-2 at Half

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team is working hard at the London Olympics Women's Soccer Tournament. While we have always reached the final of every Olympic women's soccer tournament since we started playing soccer in the Olympics, this year may prove to be more challenging.

The USA did not have the best start to the Olympic soccer games, being two goals down in the beginning, but our women have rallied and closed the first half tied 2-2.

While the rest of the women's soccer world may have caught up to our team, Anerica still stands strong as the leaders and it is the only the beginning of the games. 

Abby Wambach has proven her abilities once more. Megan Rapinoe sent her a perfect corner kick to the back post, and Wambach rose to the occasion perfectly to head the ball into the net.

Wambach also proved the magic between herself and Alex Morgan is alive and well. Wambach set up Morgan for her equalizing goal in the 31st minute.

U.S. women's soccer team work to defend their 2008 gold medal and their confident coach and team say they are ready. The USA has many goals left to score.

More news as the games continue.

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USA Begins Olympic Gold Defense Against France

Women Open Olympic Play at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on July 25

The U.S. Women's National Team begins its quest for the fourth Olympic gold medal in the program's history when it opens the 2012 London Olympics against France on Wednesday, July 25, at the famed Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The match, which kicks off at 12:00 p.m. ET, will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel. Fans can follow the match via ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and on Twitter@ussoccer_wnt. The U.S. team has been in the United Kingdom since July 11 and in Glasgow since July 17, and despite some rainy weather, the pre-Olympic training has gone very well for the Americans.

GROUP G ACTION: Following Wednesday's match against France, the U.S. continues Group G play against Colombia at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 28, at Hampden Park. The Americans will then face Korea DPR at 12:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 31, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Both games will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

2012 U.S. WNT Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result/ Time (ET)	U.S. Goalscorers/TV	Venue
Jan. 20*	Dominican Republic	14-0 W	Wambach (2), Lloyd, Buehler, O'Reilly (3), Heath, Rodriguez (5), Cheney	BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 22*	Guatemala	13-0 W	Wambach (2), Cheney, Rodriguez, Lloyd, Lindsey, Leroux (5), Rapinoe, Morgan	BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 24*	Mexico	4-0 W	Lloyd (3), O'Reilly	BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 27*	Costa Rica	3-0 W	Heath, Lloyd, Morgan	BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Jan. 29*	Canada	4-0 W	Morgan (2), Wambach (2)	BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
Feb. 11	New Zealand	2-1 W	Morgan (2)	FC Dallas Stadium, Frisco, Texas
Feb. 29^	Denmark	5-0 W	Morgan (2), Wambach, Lloyd, Leroux	Estadio Municipal; Lagos, Portugal
March 2^	Norway	2-1 W	Wambach, Leroux	Estadio Municipal; Lagos, Portugal
March 5^	Japan	0-1 L	--	Estadio Algarve; Faro, Portugal
March 7^	Sweden	4-0 W	Morgan (3), Wambach	Estadio Bela Vista; Parchal, Portugal
April 1**	Japan	1-1 T	Morgan	Yurtec Stadium; Sendai, Japan
April 3**	Brazil	3-0 W	Lloyd, Boxx, Rodriguez	Fukuda Denshi Arena; Chiba, Japan
May 27	China PR	4-1 W	Morgan (2), own goal, Wambach	PPL Park; Chester, Pa.
June 16^^	Sweden	3-1 W	Wambach, Morgan, Heath	Örjans Vall Stadium; Halmstad, Sweden
June 18^^	Japan	4-1 W	Morgan (2), Wambach (2)	Örjans Vall Stadium; Halmstad, Sweden
June 30	Canada	2-1 W	Own goal, Rodriguez	Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
July 25~	France	12 p.m.	NBC Sports Network; NBC Olympic Soccer Channel	Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
July 28~	Colombia	12 p.m.	NBC Sports Network; NBC Olympic Soccer Channel	Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
July 31~	Korea DPR	12:15 p.m.	NBC Sports Network; NBC Olympic Soccer Channel	Old Trafford; Manchester, England

* CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament
^ Algarve Cup
** Kirin Challenge Cup
^^ Volvo Winners Cup
~ 2012 London Olympics

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION - Detailed Roster
GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart, Hope Solo
DEFENDERS (6): Rachel Buehler, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Kelley O'Hara, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn
MIDFIELDERS (6): Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Amy Rodriguez
FORWARDS (4): Lauren Cheney, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

• Alex Morgan leads the U.S. WNT with 17 goals in 15 games and she has six multi-goal games this year. Following her two-goal effort in the 4-1 win against Japan on June 18, Morgan moved into a tie for 11th place on the all-time U.S. WNT list for goals scored in a calendar year. She is tied with Shannon MacMillan (2002) and Abby Wambach (2006). Morgan is also already tied for 16th all-time for career goals with 27, matching Joy Fawcett.
• Morgan's scoring clip is a rarity in U.S. Women's history. The last person to record double-digit goals at a rate of more than one goal per game was Mia Hamm, who had 18 goals in 16 games in 1997. Even Wambach, who is second on the USA's all-time goal scoring list, has not averaged one goal per game in any year. She has been close on several occasions, including her 20 goals in 21 games in 2007.
• Morgan notched a hat trick – the first of her career – to lead the U.S. past Sweden 4-0 on March 7 in the third-place match of the 2012 Algarve Cup. With that effort, Morgan became the 15th player in U.S. history to reach double figures in goals during a calendar year.
• Goalkeeper Hope Solo leads the team in minutes played with 1,305 in 15 starts in the net. She has a 12-1-1 record and seven shutouts this year.
• Seven U.S. players are participating in their first Olympics. Seven players are participating in their second Olympics. Three players – Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly and Heather Mitts – are participating in their third Olympics while U.S. captain Christie Rampone is playing in her U.S. Soccer-record fourth Olympics.
• Sydney Leroux is the only player on the U.S. roster who was not a member of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Team. Leroux is also the youngest player on the roster at age 22.
• Five players on the U.S. roster have scored in an Olympics: Abby Wambach (4 goals in 2004), Carli Lloyd (2 goals in 2008), Heather O'Reilly (three goals over 2004 and 2008), Shannon Boxx (1 goal over 2004 and 2008) and Amy Rodriguez (1 goal in 2008).
• Abby Wambach returns to Olympic competition for the first time in eight years after scoring the winning goal in the 2004 gold medal game. She missed the 2008 Olympics with a broken leg suffered in the USA's last exhibition before the Olympics.

USA vs. FRANCE SERIES

• The U.S. last faced France in the semifinals of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the USA posting a 3-1 victory in front of 25,676 at Borussia Park in Monchengladbach, Germany, to advance to the title game against eventual World Cup winner Japan. In that semifinal game, Lauren Cheney, Abby Wambach and second-half sub Alex Morgan provided the scoring production. For Morgan, it was her first World Cup goal.
• The U.S. has faced France 13 times in its history, but only five times in the past 15 years and the meeting in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the first since 2006. The USA has a 12-0-1 record in the series that dates back to the first meeting on July 29, 1988 - a 1-0 USA victory in Rimini, Italy.
• The USA has six career shutouts against France, including four straight shutout victories from 1988 to 1995 to open the head-to-head series.
• As this is the first Olympic Games for the French women's soccer team. The USA and France have never met in a previous Olympic match.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

• Veteran U.S. defender Christie Rampone, should she start against France on July 25 to open the Olympics, is expected to become the USA's all-time leader in Olympic appearances with 17. Rampone currently shares the top spot with 16 starts alongside U.S. WNT legends Joy Fawcett, Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly and Kate Markgraf.
• Following her two-goal performance against Japan on June 18, forward Alex Morgan moved into a 16th-place tie for goals scored with National Soccer Hall of Famer Joy Fawcett with 27 goals. Next up on the scoring list is Brandi Chastain's 30 goals.
• Morgan's 42 points this year (17 goals, eight assists) is the most since Abby Wambach had 45 points (20 goals, five assists) in 2007.
• Amy Rodriguez, who scored a goal during the USA's most recent 2-1 win against Canada on June 30, notched her eighth goal off of the bench this year. That total ranks second among all U.S. WNT players. Only Debbie Keller has scored more goals off of the bench, with nine during the 1998 campaign.
• Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux have combined for 15 goals off of the bench this year, which is the largest total among any previous substitution tandem. Keller and Tisha Venturini were second with a combined 12 goals in 1998.
• Midfielder Shannon Boxx will move ahead of Carla Overbeck in a couple of categories with her next start. Boxx currently matches Overbeck's career starts (161) and caps (168) totals. With her next start, Boxx will move into sole possession of seventh on the career list, and with her next cap Boxx will be in sole possession of 12th place.
• Lauren Cheney contributed her 10th assist of the year during the win against Brazil in Japan in April, becoming the first player to reach double digits in that category since Heather O'Reilly and Wambach each posted a team-high 10 assists in 2008.
• The USA is 88-2-5 all-time when Wambach scores a goal.
• Captain Christie Rampone surpassed 20,000 minutes played for her career during the USA's 3-0 win against Brazil in the Kirin Challenge Cup on April 3. With 1,231 minutes logged this year, she now has 20,244 in her 14 years with the WNT. She is the fifth U.S. Women's player to reach such a feat, joining Kristine Lilly (28,700), Julie Foudy (21,669), Mia Hamm (20,694) and Joy Fawcett (20,527).
• Rampone made her 250th career international appearance during the USA's 2-1 victory against New Zealand on Feb. 11. Rampone (260 caps) ranks fourth all-time in U.S. WNT history, with Lilly (352), Hamm (275) and Foudy (271) ranking No. 1 through No. 3.
• The USA is 3-1-0 in Olympic openers all-time. The USA defeated Denmark 3-0 in the first game in 1996, defeated Norway 2-0 in the first game in 2000 and defeated Greece 3-0 in the first game in 2004. In 2008, the USA fell to Norway 2-0 in the first game, yet went on to win the group and the gold medal.

BY THE NUMBERS:

1	USA's FIFA ranking
5	Goals scored in a game by Sydney Leroux (Jan. 22, 2012), Amy Rodriguez (Jan. 20, 2012), Abby Wambach (Oct. 23, 2004), Tiffeny Milbrett (Nov. 2, 2002), Michelle Akers (Nov. 24, 1991) and Brandi Chastain (April 18, 1991)
6	France's FIFA ranking
7	Games this year in which Alex Morgan and Wambach both contributed at least one goal (7-0-0 record)
57	The current unbeaten streak for the USA in domestic matches in which the team is 51-0-6
66	U.S. goals in 2012 through 15 games (this number does not factor in two own goals)
194	Players who have earned a cap for the U.S. Women's National Team since the program's inception in 1985, the most recent being Whitney Engen, who earned her first cap against Norway at the Algarve Cup on March 4, 2011

Pia Sundhage Fact File: Head coach Pia Sundhage is in the midst of her fourth full year in charge of the U.S. Women's National Team. Below are some of her accomplishments as a player and coach.

• Sundhage is the sixth official coach and second female coach in the history of the U.S. Women's National Team program.
• Sundhage's record as head coach of the Women's National Team is 82-6-10, with 253 goals for and 51 against.
• As a player, Sundhage was one of the game's best-ever players, finishing sixth in the voting for FIFA Women's Player of the Century. A legendary player in Sweden, she played for her country in the 1991 and 1995 Women's World Cups and 1996 Olympics. She scored four goals for Sweden at the 1991 Women's World Cup, helping the Swedes to a third-place finish. She scored one goal in the 1995 Women's World Cup (against Germany) and played every minute of all three matches at the Atlanta Olympics.
• Sundhage started her coaching career while still playing, serving as player-coach for Hammarby from 1992-1994. She also coached Sweden's Youth National Teams for 11 years from 1990-2001, coaching the U-16s, U-19s and U-21s.
• After her retirement from the international game in 1996, she became head coach of the Sweden Under-19 Women's National Team, leading the team to one gold medal and two bronze medals at the European Championships. She served as a scout for Sweden during the 1997 European Championships, the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2000 Olympics. Sundhage has also worked for FIFA on its Technical Study Group staff for the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand.
• Since taking over as head coach, Sundhage has given 17 players their first senior team caps.

IN FOCUS: FRANCE
Fédération Française de Football (FFF)
Founded: 1919
Head Coach: Bruno Bini
FIFA World Ranking: 6
Best FIFA World Cup Finish: Fourth place in 2011
Best Olympics Finish: Had never qualified for Olympics until 2012 London Games

FRANCE ROSTER BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Céline Deville, 18-Sarah Bouhaddi
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Wendie Renard, 4-Laura Georges, 5- Ophélle Meilleroux, 7-Corine Franco, 8-Sonia Bompastor, 16-Sabrina Viguier
MIDFIELDERS (6): 3-Laure Boulleau, 6-Sandrine Soubeyrand, 10-Camille Abily, 13-Camille Catala, 14-Louisa Necib, 15-Élise Bussaglia
FORWARDS (4): 9-Eugénie Le Sommer, 11-Marie-Laure Delie, 12-Élodie Thomis, 17-Gaëtane Thiney

FRANCE ROSTER NOTES:

• Midfielder Sandrine Soubeyrand leads France's Olympic roster with 177 caps and forward Marie-Laure Delie is the leading goal scorer among the group with 33.
• France touts a veteran group for the London Olympics with 14 players who have earned more than 50 caps throughout their international career.
• The youngest player on the team is 21-year-old midfielder Camille Catala, who has one goal in six appearances.
• Defender Sonia Bompastor had a game-tying goal against the U.S. in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup semifinal before the USA scored back-to-back goals to close out the match. Bompastor formerly played for the Washington Freedom of Women's Professional Soccer and was a teammate of U.S. forward Abby Wambach, midfielder Lori Lindsey and defender Becky Sauerbrunn.
• The fourth-place finish in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was France's best showing. The event included a quarterfinal win against England on penalty kicks to advance to face the USA in the semifinals. France fell to the USA in the semifinal and to Sweden in the third-place match.
• France has won 17 consecutive matches since losing in the third-place game of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

LAST TIME
On the field for the USA:
June 30, 2012 - Rio Tinto Stadium - Sandy, Utah - International Friendly

USA       2   own goal (Carmelina Moscato) 15, Amy Rodriguez 85
Canada 1    Melissa Tancredi 57

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 6-Amy LePeilbet (2-Heather Mitts, 46), 3-Christie Rampone (capt.) (4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 46), 16-Rachel Buehler, 5-Kelley O'Hara (11-Sydney Leroux, 76); 15-Megan Rapinoe, 7-Shannon Boxx (10-Carli Lloyd, 46), 12-Lauren Cheney, 17-Tobin Heath (9-Heather O'Reilly, 46); 13-Alex Morgan (8-Amy Rodriguez, 51), 14-Abby Wambach
Subs not used: 18-Nicole Barnhart
Head coach: Pia Sundhage

CAN: 18-Erin McLeod; 2-Emily Zurrer (9-Candace Chapman, 46), 4-Carmelina Moscato, 7-Rhian Wilkinson (5-Robyn Gayle, 71), 22-Lauren Sesselmann (19-Chelsea Stewart, 86); 6-Kaylyn Kyle, 8-Diana Matheson, 11-Desiree Scott (20-Marie-Eve Nault, 86), 13-Sophie Schmidt (16-Jonelle Filigno, 65), 17-Brittany Timko (14-Melissa Tancredi, 46); 12-Christine Sinclaire
Subs not used: 3-Melanie Booth, 15-Kelly Parker, 21-Sabrina D'Angelo
Head coach: John Herdman

Vs. France for the USA:
July 13, 2011 - Borussia Park - Monchengladbach, Germany - 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup - Semifinal

USA     3   Lauren Cheney 9, Abby Wambach 79, Alex Morgan 82
France 1   Sonia Bompastor 55

Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 11-Ali Krieger, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 6-Amy LePeilbet; 9-Heather O'Reilly (17-Tobin Heath, 87), 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd (15-Megan Rapinoe, 65), 12-Lauren Cheney; 8-Amy Rodriguez (13-Alex Morgan, 56), 20-Abby Wambach
Subs not used: 2-Heather Mitts, 5-Kelley O'Hara, 14-Stephanie Cox, 16-Lori Lindsey, 18-Nicole Barnhart, 21-Jill Loyden
Not Eligible: 19-Rachel Buehler (suspension)
Head coach: Pia Sundhage

FRA: 16-Berangere Sapowicz; 11-Laure Lepailleur, 4-Laura Georges, 5-Ophelie Meilleroux, 8-Sonia Bompastor; 6-Sandrine Soubeyrand (capt.) (12-Elodie Thomis, 78), 15-Elise Bussaglia; 10-Camille Abily, 14-Louisa Necib, 17-Gaetane Thiney; 18-Marie-Laure Delie (9-Eugenie Le Sommer, 46)
Subs not used: 1-Celine Deville, 21-Laetitia Philippe, 2-Wendie Renard, 3-Laure Boulleau, 7-Corine Franco, 13-Caroline Pizzala, 19-Sandrine Bretigny, 20-Sabrina Viguier
Head coach: Bruno Bini

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