体坛英语新闻：U.S., France go clear on top in each group, China beaten by Germany at Algarve Cup

SANTO ANTONIO, Portugal, Mar. 6 (Xinhua) -- France and the United States came out the only two taking six points after two rounds of robin at the Algarve Cup, while "Group of Death" underdogs China down to bottom with a 2-0 defeat to Germany here on Friday.

The third-ranked French women's soccer team trounced their counterparts of Denmark to take the driver's seat for the final, alongside with the U.S. who blanked Switzerland 3-0 in Group B action late at Municipal Stadium.

According to the specific regulations of the annual invitational tournament, the top two group winners advance to the championship game on March 11.

The Americans were taken almost one hour to overcome a sluggish performance before hitting the Swiss with three goals in 27 minutes.

Alex Morgan scored the first after 54 minutes, getting on the end of a perfectly placed ball over the top from Lauren Holiday and heading downward to beat the goalkeeper.

Amy Rodriguez doubled the lead on the 72nd minute with a sequence of touches inside the Swiss penalty area, before Abby Wambach provided the insurance goal after chipping the goalie at 81.

Earlier at Vila Real Santo Antonio, world No. 1 Germany claimed a comfortable 2-0 victory over 13th-rated China to recover from a 4-2 shocking defeat to Sweden two days ago in the first round.

Anja Mittag made the breakthrough on the 40th minute after a nice group effort inside the area, before a header from substitute striker Alexandra Popp from the left beat the Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Yue at 78.

China opened the game well with some chances in the starting minutes but never threw one single serious threat to Germany's goalmouth.

"We are today against the world No. 1 who're much better than us as a whole team," commented China's coach Hao Wei.

"If we'd done better in the first half without going one down, or may we made some changes to the attack, we could have came to a different result," said the former national player of China's men' s team.

German boss Silvia Neid gave some credit to China's technique and spirit though she's proud that the German team successfully contained the rivals attack.

"They are a fairly good team," she said. "They stayed tight with good skills and tactics firmly carried out. That's good for a team."

The victory lifted the title holders to the third position after Brazil beat Sweden 2-0 later in another match of the day in Group A. China were on the bottom as the only team without a win.