Britain, Mexico secure spots in Olympic quarters

WEMBLEY, England (AP) — Britain's football team was given a warm reception by the Welsh fans in Cardiff, and then made sure it gets to play another game there.

Britain beat Uruguay 1-0 in its final group game Wednesday to join fellow Olympic medal contenders Brazil and Mexico in the quarterfinals.

Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge scored the winner on the stroke of halftime in front of 70,000 fans for Britain — which has fielded a unified Olympic team for the first time in 52 years — to win Group A. Britain will next play South Korea, also at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

With the football associations — and many fans — in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland having opposed the idea of British Olympic team, there had been concerns that fans might boo the national anthem when it was played before the game. That didn't happen, though, and the team enjoyed loud support throughout the match.

"We played some outstanding football," Britain coach Stuart Pearce said. "People were telling me there would be a negative response in Cardiff, but we haven't seen that. It's been fantastic here, around the hotel and the city. We are getting stronger and stronger."

Britain finished ahead of Senegal atop Group A after Moussa Kanote's tournament-high fourth goal earned the Africans a 1-1 draw against the already eliminated United Arab Emirates at the City of Coventry Stadium. Senegal will meet Group B winner Mexico at Wembley Stadium next.

Earlier Wednesday, Oribe Peralta scored a second-half goal as Mexico reaffirmed its status as a medal contender with a 1-0 win over Switzerland, while Honduras continued its surprise run by drawing 0-0 with Group D winner Japan to snatch a place in the last eight alongside Egypt, which beat Belarus 3-1 to make the last eight.

Honduras will take on big favorite Brazil, which had qualified for the quarterfinals even before beating New Zealand 3-0 for a third straight win.

Brazil coach Mano Menezes rested several of his key players, but that didn't stop Danilo and Leandro Damiao from scoring before halftime. Alex Sandro added the third at St. James' Park in Newcastle, where the team will stay for its quarterfinal. Brazil finished with 10 men after Sandro received his second yellow card in the 76th.

"We're getting stronger as the competition goes on," Brazil defender Rafael said. "Brazil always has to think of a medal. The next stage is important, if we lose, we're out. We need concentration and focus."

Mexico finished ahead of South Korea, which needed a scoreless draw to advance against Gabon in front of 76,927 spectators at Wembley.

"We have been growing in confidence and now we have won two matches in a row which is something very positive," Mexico defender Carlos Salcido said. "Now we will wait to see who our rivals are going to be and we will go for the win, as we always do."

Switzerland, which was playing without Michel Morganella after the defender was sent home for posting racist and threatening messages on Twitter against South Koreans, finished last with one point in the group behind Gabon.

Uruguay was returning to the Olympics for the first time since 1928 when it won its second gold, and even with a squad packed with stars like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani failed to gel. But that comes as little surprise in a tournament in which Spain exited without a victory after drawing 0-0 with Morocco to finish last in Group D.

"We asked these players to join the team because they are goal scorers, but the team need chances in order to score," said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, who normally leads the senior team but took the reins in London with a medal possible. "(But) it's not just their fault."

Support for Britain hasn't exactly lifted off with many players failing to sing the national anthem, but another victory may ultimately stir more support and belief in an unorthodox squad.

"We are in Wales. I'm Welsh. I can't explain how proud I am right now," Britain forward Craig Bellamy said, explaining in a few words the challenges of building such a squad.

Egypt reached a last eight match at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester after finishing second behind Brazil in Group C with four points. In Glasgow, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen and Mohamed Aboutrika all scored second-half goals for Egypt before Andrei Voronkov netted a late consolation goal for Belarus, which was eliminated.

All quarterfinals matches will be played on Saturday.