U.S. clinches Women’s World Cup quarterfinal berth with an impressive victory

Two down and four to go.

With four more victories, the U.S. will win the 2011 Women’s World Cup, adding a third world soccer championship to those won in China in 1991 and in the U.S. in 1999.

Actually, because of Saturday’s 3-0 rout of Colombia that swept Coach Pia Sundhage’s team into the tournament quarterfinals, all it will require is a tie, or even a loss, against Sweden next Wednesday and three victories after that.

Not an impossible task by any means.

“I’ve got a squad with real experience, but it also contains some younger players who’ve put in some great performances and made just the right decisions when called upon,” Sundhage said after the team’s dominating performance in front of a sellout crowd of 25,475 in Sinsheim, Germany.

Goals by Heather O’Reilly, Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd took care of the challenge posed by Colombia. The South Americans are playing in their first World Cup and have found the experience a little overwhelming.

“Our goalkeeper made some mistakes, but so did the rest of our team,” Colombia Coach Ricardo Rozo said. “We really struggled against a fantastic USA side.”

The American squad has scored five goals in its two matches, Saturday’s win following a 2-0 blanking of North Korea in Dresden. Goalkeeper Hope Solo has two shutouts and the U.S. defense looks secure.

Sweden also made it into the quarterfinals Saturday by edging North Korea, 1-0, in front of 23,768 in Augsburg, Germany. Lisa Dahlkvist scored the all-important goal to break North Korean resistance.

The Swedes, World Cup runners-up in 2003, have two one-goal victories so far, meaning they are three goals behind the U.S. going into Wednesday’s match in Wolfsburg. Hence a tie is enough for the American side to secure first place in Group C.

If the U.S. finishes first, it would play the second-place team in Group D, which could be Brazil, Norway or even Australia.

Despite his team’s relative lack of goals, Sweden Coach Thomas Dennerby was satisfied with Saturday’s result.

“Our defense was great,” he said. “Our original plan was that North Korea couldn’t get through — and they didn’t.”

“Winning the first two matches does give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament,” Swedish midfielder Antonia Goransson said.

But the Americans are even more confident.

“It was great winning in front of so many fans, particularly all the troops who’d come from the nearby American military bases,” said forward Abby Wambach, who hit the post with a second-half deflection. “We wanted to perform well for them.”

The only negative for the U.S. team was the yellow card picked up by Wambach for a foul on Colombian goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda late in the match.

If she gets another yellow card, she will have to serve a one-game suspension, which could be costly for the U.S. Still, Wambach was upbeat after Saturday’s victory.

“I’m sure Sinsheim will forgive me for saying that we’d rather not come back, because this is where the match for third place will be held,” she said.

The U.S. has its eyes on the July 17 final in Frankfurt, and after its first two games, the championship match is not beyond reach.

Two down and four to go.

grahame.jones@latimes.com

Jones reported from Ross on Wye, England.