- LONDON: The United States will face old political foes North Korea on the soccer field once again at the London Olympics after the draw for the women’s tournament threw the two sides together on Tuesday.
- The US women, who will be chasing their fourth Olympic title in five tournaments since the first at the Atlanta Games in 1996, have played North Korea in the last four World Cups but never before in an Olympic tournament.
France and Colombia will also be in the same Group G.
North Korea lost 2-0 to the top-ranked United States, twice world champions, in a group-stage match at the 2011 women’s World Cup in Germany last June. Previous encounters have ended with two wins and a draw for the US team.
Communist North Korea, one of the most reclusive and impoverished countries in the world, is subject to international sanctions and has drawn further international condemnation this month with reports that it is preparing a third nuclear test after ones in 2006 and 2009.
The United States has 28,000 troops in South Korea, an important ally which remains effectively on a war footing with the north since a 1953 truce that ended a civil conflict between the two sides.