Soccer | Solo helps U.S. women shut out host Sweden

SKELLEFTEA, Sweden — Carli Lloyd scored on a deflected shot in the 39th minute Saturday to give the United States a 1-0 victory over Sweden in a women's Olympic tuneup.

Lloyd dribbled past three defenders inside the box and fired a left-footed shot that glanced off defender Sara Thunebro's leg and past goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.

Hope Solo, a former Washington Huskies standout from Richland, was the U.S. goalkeeper in the first half and Nicole Barnhart took over for the second half.

They combined to make four saves.

The U.S. team improved to 19-0-1 this year.

The Americans have 13 shutouts, five in a row. The team has two matches against Brazil before the Beijing Olympics — on July 13 in Commerce City, Colo., and July 16 in San Diego.

Lloyd was grateful for her good fortune.

"Yeah, it was a deflection, but it's always exciting to score a goal," said Lloyd, who also scored in the Americans' 4-0 victory over Norway three days earlier. "I just wanted to help the team win."

Saturday's match was the first for Pia Sundhage as coach of the United States against her native country. She played for Sweden in two World Cups and one Olympics.

Sundhage said the result wasn't important.

"Of course you gain some confidence, but we [were] working on some tactical stuff," she said. "At halftime, it was nice to hear the players say they need to challenge themselves ... "

The Americans, who are the defending Olympic champions, are 16-5-4 against Sweden.

"Sweden has a great team; they played us tough," Lloyd said. "This game was very important.

"We're working towards the Olympics. We want to get that gold."

Notes

• Cristiano Ronaldo will likely miss the start of the season with English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United because of ankle surgery.

The 23-year-old winger from Portugal is to be operated on next week after playing with pain over the final two months of the English season and through the Euro 2008 tournament. The Premier League season starts in mid-August.

• Ante Razov scored in the 88th minute to give host Chivas USA a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in a Major League Soccer match in Carson, Calif.

• Steven Lenhart scored the tying goal in the 87th minute as the Columbus Crew rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 2-2 MLS draw with the visiting Chicago Fire.

Chris Rolfe and Calen Carr scored for Chicago, which is winless in its last five matches.

Emmanuel Ekpo of the Crew scored in the 36th minute to reduce the Fire's lead to 2-1.