Abby Wambach’s 136th career goal for the US women’s soccer team led the Americans past host Sweden, 3-1, in Halmstad Saturday, in a tuneup for the Olympics.
Wambach connected just eight minutes in, then Alex Morgan scored in the 22d. Sweden’s Lotta Schelin scored in the 35th minute, and substitute Tobin Heath sealed the game with a header 11 minutes into the second half.
Wambach’s goal came off a punt from goalkeeper Hope Solo. Heather O’Reilly won the ball in the air, nodding it to Wambach. She turned on a defender and her half-volley from 35 yards caught keeper Hedvig Lindahl out of her goal.
“It was a good experience for us, playing the third-best team in the world and scoring three goals,’’ US coach Pia Sundhage said. “We are seeing the start of our run to the Olympics and we are happy with the 90 minutes we played today.’’
The United Stats will face Japan Monday. The Japanese beat the Americans for the World Cup title last year.
MLS
Whitecaps 1, Rapids 0 - Sebastien Le Toux’s goal in the 80th minute gave host Vancouver a victory over Colorado.
Vancouver won while playing a man down after Darren Mattocks was ejected in the 60th minute for his second yellow card. The Whitecaps won their seventh game of the season, surpassing the six from their 2011 expansion season.
Dynamo 2, FC Dallas 1 - Adam Moffat scored his first goal of the season in the 76th minute to give host Houston a win.
FC Dallas is winless in 10 games and played the last 26 minutes with 10 players after Jair Benitez was given a red card.
Jackson Goncalves tied the game in the 59th minute for FC Dallas.
Impact 4, Sounders 1 - Felipe Martin, Justin Mapp, Andrew Wenger, and Lamar Neagle scored to help Montreal beat visiting Seattle.
Eddie Johnson scored for the Sounders, who were reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when Jhon Kennedy Hurtado was sent off for a nasty tackle on Collen Warner.
D.C. United 1, Union 0 - Chris Pontius scored in the 78th minute to lift visiting D.C. United over Philadelphia.
A sold-out crowd of 18,876 showed up at PPL Park for the debut of interim manager John Hackworth, who was elevated when Peter Nowak stepped down last week after two-plus seasons.
Sporting KC 2, Toronto FC 0 - C.J. Sapong and Julio Cesar scored in the first half to lead host Sporting Kansas City to victory, spoiling the debut of Toronto FC manager Paul Mariner. Mariner took over last week when Aron Winter was fired after a 1-9-0 start.
European Championship
Czech Republic 1, Poland 0 - Petr Jiracek scored a second-half winner in Wroclaw, Poland, to give the Czech Republic a victory and a place in the quarterfinals.
Poland, the tournament cohost, was knocked out in its final Group A game. The Czechs won the group and will play the runners-up in Group B.
Pushing forward in the 72d minute, Jiracek collected a pass from Milan Baros in the box, cut right past Poland’s Marcin Wasilewski, and slotted the ball inside the far post.
Poland immediately brought on two attacking players in the last 30 minutes to push for a goal, but struggled to create any serious threats.
Greece 1, Russia 0 - Greece surged into the quarterfinals in Warsaw, defeating Russia on a goal by Giorgos Karagounis just before halftime.
Karagounis, making his team record-tying 120th international appearance, sent a shot under keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev with the final touch of the half.
The Greeks, the 2004 Euro champions, then did what they do best: defend.
Even as the Greeks closed down in front of their net, Karagounis looked to have won a penalty kick when Sergei Ignashevich appeared to bring him down. But Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson booked the Greece captain for a dive, meaning he will miss the quarterfinals.