London 2012 Olympics: USA ease into quarter-finals with 3-0 victory over Colombia

THE concern, when this whole Olympic football jamboree got under way, was whether enough fans would turn up to create an atmosphere. Yesterday the same was being asked of the USA team.

Crammed full with some of the world’s best players, they hadn’t bothered putting in much of an appearance for the first 15 minutes of their opening match against France on Wednesday, allowing their opponents to gain a two-goal advantage before they finally stimulated some excitement in the stands and found their way back into the game to win 4-2.

But in front of 11,313 fans in Hampden, much to Colombia’s chagrin, the USA did turn up and they were encouraged throughout with chants of “U-S-A”, and some flag waving that may not have blanketed the stands but was hearty.

After making such an impact when she came on in the first fixture, Alex Morgan retained her place and was an integral part of the reigning Olympic champions’ attacking moves.

Lauren Cheney thought she had opened the scoring in the ninth minute but she had manhandled her marker as she burst through and the referee’s whistle had already sounded by the time the ball hit the net.

Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe combined to carve out another opening but the former failed to find the target. Colombian goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda was also proving irksome to the USA strikeforce, diving to cut out crosses and making sure there was no easy tap ins. But she was well-beaten in the 32nd minute when Rapinoe latched on to a squared ball from Morgan on the edge of the box and skelped a beautifully curled right-foot shot high into the net.

In response Colombia showed endeavour but very little else. Carmen Rodallega had a half chance, while Orianica Velasquez resorted to a long range effort that never troubled Hope Solo.

In the second half Wambach notched the second in the 75th minute, after a quick one-two with Morgan, and two minutes later Carli Lloyd got the third to ensure there was no fortuitous way back for the underdogs and to seal their place in the knock-out stages.

United States: Solo, Mitts, Rampone, O’Hara, O’Reilly (Heath 67), Lloyd, Cheney, Morgan, Wambach (Leroux 78), Rapinoe (Rodriguez 81), Buehler.

Colombia: Sepulveda, Ariza (Salazar 71), Gaitan, Arias, Velasquez, Rodallega (A Montoya 71), Usme, Dominguez, Peduzine, Vidal (Ortiz 87), Andrade..

Referee:Thalia Mitsi (Greece)

Attendance: 11,313.