U.S. Women rally from early deficit to defeat France in Olympic opener

In stunning fashion, the U.S. women’s national team went down two goals in the first 15 minutes of its 2012 Olympics opener against France.

But ever resilient, the USA, behind strong attacking play from Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach, rallied to tie the match before half and then scored twice more in the second half for a 4-2 win in the opening Group G match at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland.

Gaetane Thiney’s well-taken strike from 25 yards opened the scoring for France in the 12th minute, as she was given just enough space to rip a shot that USA goalkeeper Hope Solo got a fingertip on, but couldn’t keep from going into the upper right corner of the net.

Two minutes later, France went up 2-0, as Marie-Laure Delie scored off a corner.

From there, the USA got itself back into the game.

Wambach opened the USA scoring four minutes after France’s second goal, as she rose above two defenders at the far post to head the ball into the net off a corner. Morgan then tied the match in the 31st minute, getting behind the defense and chipping a bouncing ball over France’s onrushing goalkeeper, Sarah Bouhaddi.

Carli Lloyd, who subbed into the match for an injured Shannon Boxx in the 17th minute, got what proved to be the game-winner in the 55th minute, expertly striking from long-range past Bouhaddi. Morgan tacked on her second goal of the match for good measure, tapping in just inside the right post in the 66th minute.

Lloyd’s goal is her second straight Olympic game-winner, as she had the lone goal in the 2008 Olympic gold medal game to defeat Brazil 1-0 in overtime.

The USA will continue group play against Colombia at Hampden Park on July 28 (5 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET) and finish the first round against Korea DPR on July 31 (5:15 p.m. local / 12:15 p.m. ET) at the legendary Old Trafford in Manchester, home to Manchester United. Both games are televised live on the NBC Sports Network.

– U.S. Women’s National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. Women’s National Team vs. France
Date: July 25, 2012
Competition: 2012 Olympics – Group G
Venue: Hampden Park; Glasgow, Scotland
Kickoff: 5 p.m. local (12 Noon ET)
Attendance:
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy

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

Misconduct Summary:
None

Officials:
Referee: Sachiko Yamagishi (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Saori Takahashi (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Widiya Shamsuri (USA)
Fourth Official: Hong Eun Ha (KOR)