France piles it on late vs North Korea

CHASING GOLD

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France scored four goals in the last 20 minutes and beat North Korea 5-0 Saturday in the group stage of the women's Olympic soccer tournament.

Defender Laura Georges gave France the lead with a powerful header just before halftime, and her teammates did the rest near the end.

Substitute Elodie Thomis added the second in the 70th minute, then set up Marie-Laure Delie for the third a minute later. Wendie Renard netted a header from a corner in the 81st, and Camille Catala completed the rout with another header in the 87th after Thomis sent in a cross from the right.

"At the beginning of the match, the players were nervous," France coach Bruno Bini said. "In the second half, we played high quality football."

The win puts France in second place in Group G ahead of North Korea on goal difference with three points.

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"We have the three points and we're second in the group," Bini said. "Now, we're just focusing on getting to the quarterfinals."

North Korea faces the United States in the last group match, and France will take on Colombia.

North Korea coach Sin Ui Gun said that the late kickoff in his team's previous match because of a flag dispute may have affected his team's preparations. London Olympic organizers displayed a South Korean flag alongside North Korea's players on stadium screens at Hampden Park for the match against Colombia.

"Because of the delay, we had to finish the game late ... so maybe it affected our players' ability today," Sin said. "We still have one more match to go. Today's match is a good lesson and will motivate our team."