Canada qualifies for the Olympic quarter-final stage

Canada’s women’s football team has qualified for the quarter-final stage at the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Canada will face the United States on Friday 15 August at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China. The match will kick off at 18.00 (06.00 ET or 03.00 PT).
“We have played the Americans so many times,” says captain Christine Sinclair. “We are expecting a very close game as it is a huge rivalry for both of us.”
After a 1:2 loss to Sweden today, combined with a Chinese 2:0 victory over Argentina, Canada finished third in Group E with four points. China finished first with seven points while Sweden finished second with six points.
Canada’s qualification put it up against the top team in Group G. Surprisingly, USA leapfrogged Norway after it hammered a 4:0 win over New Zealand and Norway suffered an unexpected 1:5 loss to Japan.
In Group F, Brazil secured first place with a 3:1 win over Nigeria while Germany finished second after its 1:0 win over Korea DPR. Unable to pick up a fourth point, Korea DPR was eliminated thanks to Japan’s big win over Norway.
In Friday’s quarter-final stage, Canada faces USA, China faces Japan, Brazil faces Norway, and Germany faces Sweden. The Canada-USA winner will face the China-Japan winner in one semi final while the Brazil-Norway winner will face the Germany-Sweden winner in the other semi final.
The Friday 15 August Canada-USA match will be broadcast live on CBC television and CBCSports.ca.
The 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament runs 6-21 August in China. With the elimination of Argentina, Korea DPR, New Zealand and Nigeria, there are now eight teams remaining in the medal hunt.