USA to open against France, Colombia and North Korea

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 24, 2012

[OLYMPIC DRAW] The USA was drawn with France, Colombia and North Korea -- teams it faced at last year's Women's World Cup -- in Group G of the women's soccer competition at the 2012 London Olympics.

The U.S. will open Group G play on July 25 -- two days before the opening ceremonies -- against France at the famed Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium in Glasgow. The USA will then face Colombia at Hampden Park three days later and finish group play against Korea DPR on July 31 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

At the 2011 Women's World Cup, the USA opened with wins over North Korea and Colombia and beat France, 3-1, in the semifinals.

The Bleues are considered this year's Olympic darkhorses.

"It's always exciting to know who we will be playing," said U.S. coach Pia Sundhage. "We will start with an excellent opponent that we faced in the World Cup and that is a good thing. Once again, we will be facing teams with different playing styles and that is a challenge our team enjoys. When the draw happens, it energizes our players and brings even more of a focus to our team. We also have the chance to start scouting and preparing for what will be an entertaining and extremely competitive first round."

Drawn into Group E with Great Britain were New Zealand, Cameroon and Brazil. Group F will consist of top seed Japan, Canada, Sweden and South Africa.