SOCCER : U.S. Women Hang On for 3-2 Victory

The United States, with goals from April Henrichs, Carin Jennings and Mia Hamm, had a 3-0 lead midway through the second half, then had to hang on Sunday night for a 3-2 victory over Sweden in a Group B game of the first world women’s soccer championship.

Jennings scored with three minutes left in the first half, then had a shot that hit the crossbar 12 minutes into the second half that Henrichs finished on a rebound.

Ten minutes later, Hamm made it 3-0 on a 25-yard shot.

Lena Videkull scored Sweden’s first goal in the 77th minute, then Ingrid Johansson scored on a 40-yard shot six minutes later.

In the other Group B game, Brazil beat Japan, 1-0, at Foshan. The U.S. plays Brazil on Tuesday night while Sweden plays Japan.

In Group C games at Jiangmen, Germany beat Nigeria, 4-0, and Italy beat Taiwan, 5-0.

In a Group A game at Canton, Denmark beat New Zealand, 3-0. After round-robin play, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-place teams advance to the quarterfinals.