Nigeria Moves Into Quarterfinals

Defending champion Nigeria gained the point it needed, tying Italy, 1-1, Tuesday at Adelaide to reach the Olympic soccer quarterfinals. But the Africans tossed away a first-half lead and had midfielder Azubuika Oliseh ejected early in the second half, which means Nigeria (1-0-2) will have two players suspended for Saturday’s quarterfinals.

Garba Lawal gave the Nigerians the lead on a penalty kick five minutes before halftime. The Italians (2-0-1) got even in the 68th minute when Roberto Boronio’s long-range shot deflected off Nigerian defender Gbenga Okunowo.

Cameroon 1, Czech Republic 1--Cameroon (1-0-2) held off the Czech Republic (0-1-2) for a tie to secure the second spot and an elimination match against the winner of Group D, likely to be Brazil or Japan.

Lauren opened the scoring for Cameroon but the Czechs finally broke through after 74 minutes when Lukas Dosek slotted the ball home.

Honduras 2, Australia 1--David Suazo scored one goal in each half to lead Honduras (1-1-1) to victory in a game involving two teams that did not advance at Sydney.

The goals gave Suazo a tournament-leading four, including the winner in the 60th minute.

Suazo scored his first of the game 2 minutes 40 seconds after the opening kickoff on a lightning-fast counter.

Michael Curcija’s 51st-minute goal gave the Australians (0-3-0) some hope, but Suazo ended it with his other score.

WOMEN

Brazil 2, Australia 1--Raquel and Katia scored eight minutes apart in the second half and Brazil (2-1-0) moved into the semifinals.

The loss ended the hopes of Australia (0-2-1), and, again, disappointed a capacity crowd at the 40,000-seat Sydney Football Stadium. The park was packed for a doubleheader for the second time in four days.

Germany 1, Sweden 0--Ariane Hingst scored in the 88th minute as Germany (3-0-0) completed a perfect first round at Melbourne.

The Germans were the only team to win all three of its first-round games. They will play a semifinal game Sunday at Sydney.

Sweden was 0-2-1 and scored only one goal in the tournament.