Great Britain girls off to a winning start

Stephanie Houghton gave Great Britain an Olympic lift-off in Cardiff yesterday with the only goal in a 1-0 win over New Zealand.

In front of a 24,549-strong crowd, the 24-year-old curled home a superb second-half free-kick to give the home side a win that puts them on track for a place in the last eight of the 12-team competition.

Of almost equal importance, it maintained the feel-good factor sweeping around the country ahead of tomorrow’s opening ceremony.

For Durham-born Houghton it was fitting reward for the courage she showed to battle back from the disappointment of missing both the 2007 World Cup and 2009 European Championship through injury.

Even at last year’s World Cup, her contribution was limited to just 39 minutes of the quarter-final defeat to France.

Watching from the stands, FIFA president Sepp Blatter must have been impressed at the cool manner of Houghton’s finish, which secured a deserved win for Hope Powell’s players, who take on Cameroon on Saturday.

Meanwhile, North Korea’s first match of the London Olympics was delayed for more than an hour last night after they refused to play in an embarrassing mix-up over national flags.

A source told AFP the team were angry after Hampden Park’s giant screen showed images of North Korean players next to the South Korean flag before their match with Colombia.

Results: Great Britain vs New Zealand 1-0; Japan Canada 2-1; US vs France 4-2; Brazil vs Cameroon 5-0; Sweden vs South Africa 4-1; Colombia vs N. Korea late kick-off.