Olympics: Teams GB, US, Japan win soccer openers

Hosts Great Britain enjoyed a winning start to the London Olympics Wednesday.

Britain’s women’s footballers beat New Zealand 1-0 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium as Olympic competition got under way, in bright sunshine, two days before the official opening ceremony.

Stephanie Houghton’s free-kick after 64 minutes proved the clincher for the British team, who were playing their first ever Olympic women’s football match.

In Glasgow, heavyweights the United States came from two goals down to beat France 4-2, while Japan’s ‘Nadeshiko’, the reigning world champions, overcame Canada 2-1.