NEWCASTLE – Brazil easily defeated New Zealand 3-0 Wednesday despite resting some regular starters for the quarterfinals of the men's Olympic football tournament. Already in the next round, Brazil earned the comfortable win with goals by Danilo in the 23rd minute, Leandro Damiao in the 29th and Sandro in the 52nd. The result eliminated New Zealand, which needed to win to have any chance of advancing from Group C. Brazil won the group with nine points from three matches, while New Zealand exited with one point from a draw with Egypt, which advanced after beating Belarus 3-1 to finish with four points. Belarus ended with three. Brazil played a man down from the 76th after Alex Sandro received his second yellow card of the match for diving inside the penalty area. Meanwhile, Spain exited the tournament without scoring a single goal in three matches after a 0-0 draw against Morocco in the final group round. Spain, which finished last in Group D, was already eliminated from the tournament after losing 1-0 in its first two matches against Japan and Honduras. Honduras held Japan to a 0-0 draw to advance to the quarterfinals of the Olympic football tournament for the first time. The Central Americans finished second in Group D and will face gold medal favorite Brazil in the last eight Saturday. Japan, which had already qualified for the last eight, secured top spot in Group D with the draw at the City of Coventry Stadium and set up a quarterfinal clash with Group C runner-up Egypt. US, Britain stay perfect Reigning Olympic champion the United States will take on a revitalised New Zealand while host Britain faces Canada in the quarterfinals of the women's soccer competition after the completion of the group stage Tuesday. The US and Britain were the only teams to qualify with maximum points while the other last eight-matches will see pre-tournament favorite Brazil play world champion Japan while Sweden and France meet in the opening quarterfinal in Glasgow. Britain, which has a women's team in the Olympics for the first time, earned its most dazzling result since the squad got together for the first time three weeks ago when it beat Brazil 1-0 with a second minute Steph Houghton goal at Wembley. The result saw Japan finish second behind Sweden in Group F, meaning it remains in Cardiff for its quarterfinal against Brazil while Sweden, which won the group, plays Group G runner-up France at Hampden Park. The US, like Britain, also won its group with maximum points after a 1-0 victory over North Korea at Old Trafford. — Agencies
