Early goal enough for U.S.
SHANGHAI, China -- Lori Chalupny gave the United States the fast start it was looking for in a 1-0 victory over Nigeria on Tuesday, a win that put the top-ranked Americans into the Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
Chalupny's goal after only 57 seconds set up a quarterfinal match against England on Saturday in the northern city of Tianjin. The Americans have won six of nine games against England (with 2 losses and a tie). The last game was a 1-1 draw eight months ago.
Sweden defeated North Korea 2-1 on Tuesday in Tianjin. Despite the loss, North Korea advances to a quarterfinal against defending champion Germany on Saturday in Wuhan.
Sluggish in the first two games against North Korea and Sweden in Group B, the Americans raced ahead in a heavy downpour at Hongkou Stadium and pushed their undefeated streak to 50 games.
"You take any goal you can, but getting a quick one -- now they've got to come at you," American coach Greg Ryan said. "It gives you better chances going the other direction. It's a great way to start."
Off a throw-in from Cat Whitehill, Abby Wambach headed a ball to midfielder Chalupny, who settled it off her chest and then chipped a close-in right-footed shot that deflected off a Nigerian player behind keeper Precious Dede. It was her fifth goal for the national team and the quickest of the tournament.
"It's a set piece we've been working on," Chalupny said. "Abby just got the perfect flick on it, kind of what we draw up in practice, and it just happened to bounce right to me. So I was able to get a touch on it and slide it away."
Looking for its third title to go with World Cups in '91 and '99, the United States finished with 7 points in Group B, considered the toughest in the tournament.
The wet field and driving rain slowed many attacks and kept the crowd down to several thousand in the 34,000-seat stadium.
Nigeria had only 1 shot in the first half; the Americans had a half-dozen.
Nigeria had other problems before the game. The players refused to practice for several days following Friday's 2-0 loss to North Korea. A dispute with the Nigeria Football Association over pay and bonus money was settled on the eve of the match.
The driving rain of Shanghai promises to get much worse.
Typhoon Wipha, expected to be the worst to hit Shanghai in a decade, was on track to make landfall just hours after the match, bringing with it 190 mph winds. The storm forced FIFA, soccer's world governing body, to reschedule two other World Cup matches.
FIFA moved a match set for today in Shanghai -- Norway vs. Ghana in Group C -- to the neighboring city of Hangzhou. That game will be played Thursday.
FIFA also moved a Group D match between Brazil and Denmark from today to Thursday. The game will be played as scheduled in Hangzhou.
Officials in Shanghai, a city of 18 million and China's commercial center, evacuated 200,000 people ahead of the expected arrival of the typhoon.