Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan scored as the United States opened its defense of Olympic gold by gliding to a 2-0 win over New Zealand on Wednesday at Mineirão in Belo Horizonte.
The win puts Team USA atop Group G and New Zealand at bottom ahead of Wednesday’s 9 p.m. EDT kickoff between Colombia and France.
The U.S. gets France on Saturday, while New Zealand will meet Colombia.
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The Yanks had a corner kick within four minutes, and looked set to go ahead only to be foiled a couple times by Football Ferns goalkeeper Erin Nayler.