Women's Olympic Soccer Tournament 2012 Draw Unveiled

The Women's Olympic Soccer Tournament 2012 Draw was held today and as you can see below, the U.S. women are in Group G.

They will unquestionably be the favorite in that Group over France, Colombia and South Korea. What's more, all they have to do is finish second to move on and even the top two third-place teams (out of three groups) will move on too. It's hard not to advance to the quarterfinals since eight of 12 teams overall will at least make it that far.

The U.S. women open against France on July 25 at Hampden Park. They follow that up by facing Colombia on July 28 at Hampden Park then close group play against North Korea on July 31 at Old Trafford (home of Manchester United).

What I'm saying is that you can assume that they'll get to the quarterfinals on August 3. If they win there, they'll advance to the semifinals on August 6 at either Wembley Stadium or Old Trafford. The Gold Medal match is August 9 at Wembley. If for no other reason than history, it would be pretty sweet to see the U.S. women compete in two of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world.

This should be a fun tournament especially since the U.S. will be one of the top teams barring something crazy. You have to like their position at least now, a few months away.

Now, for the U.S. men's draw..........oh right.

GROUP E
GREAT BRITAIN
NEW ZEALAND
CAMEROON
BRAZIL

GROUP F
JAPAN
CANADA
SWEDEN
SOUTH AFRICA

GROUP G
UNITED STATES
FRANCE
COLOMBIA
SOUTH KOREA

FIXTURES

Group E
July 25, 4.00pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Great Britain v New Zealand
July 25, 6.45pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Cameroon v Brazil

July 28, 2.30pm BST; Millennium Stadium: New Zealand v Brazil
July 28: 5.15pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Great Britain v Cameroon

July 31, 7.45pm BST; Ricoh Arena: New Zealand v Cameroon
July 31, 7.45pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Great Britain v Brazil

Group F

July 25, 5.00pm BST; Ricoh Arena: Japan v Canada
July 25, 7.45pm BST; Ricoh Arena: Sweden v South Africa

July 28, 12.00pm BST; Ricoh Arena: Canada v South Africa
July 28: 2.45pm BST; Ricoh Arena: Japan v Sweden

July 31, 2.30pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Canada v Sweden
July 31, 2.30pm BST; St James' Park: Japan v South Africa

Group G

July 25, 5.00pm BST; Hampden Park: United States v France
July 25, 7.45pm BST; Hampden Park: Colombia v North Korea

July 28, 5.00pm BST; Hampden Park: France v North Korea
July 28: 7.45pm BST; Hampden Park: United States v Colombia

July 31, 5.15pm BST; St James' Park: France v Colombia
July 31, 5.15pm BST; Old Trafford: United States v North Korea

Top two teams and two best third placed sides go through to the quarter-finals

QUARTERFINALS

August 3, 12.00pm BST; Hampden Park: Winner of F v Runner-up G
August 3, 2.30pm BST; St James' Park: Winner of G v Third Place E or F
August 3, 5.00pm BST; Millennium Stadium: Runner-up of E v Runner-up of F
August 3, 7.30pm BST; Ricoh Arena: Winner of E v Third Place F or G

SEMIFINALS

August 6, 5.00pm BST; Wembley Stadium: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 3
August 6, 7.45pm BST; Old Trafford: Winner of QF 2 v Winner of QF 4

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH

August 9, 1.00pm BST; Ricoh Arena

GOLD MEDAL MATCH

August 9, 7.45pm BST; Wembley Stadium

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