Japan again beats U.S.

JAPAN BEAT the U.S. women's soccer team, just like last summer. And this time, the Japanese didn't need penalty kicks.

Megumi Takase scored on a 6-yard header off Aya Miyama's corner kick in the 84th minute to give the world champions a 1-0 victory yesterday at Faro, Portugal, in a rematch of last year's World Cup championship game.

The Japanese became the first team in more than 3 years to hold the Americans scoreless and advanced to a matchup against Germany in the Algarve Cup final.

"I think more than anything, it opens our eyes to areas we can improve in," American midfielder Heather O'Reilly said. "Better now that we have this experience than later during the Olympics. I think we have a lot to learn from and a lot to grow from, but we're trying to pull the positives out of it."

The Americans, who had been seeking their third straight title and ninth overall in the annual tournament, finished second in Group B with a 2-1 record and will play Sweden in the third-place game tomorrow. The U.S. had gone 58 consecutive games without being shut out since a 0-0 tie against South Korea on Nov. 5, 2008.

Japan (3-0) ended an 11-game unbeaten streak for the Americans, who hadn't lost since the Women's World Cup final. When they met in Germany last July, the Japanese came from behind twice in a 2-2 tie, then won 3-1 on penalty kicks for their first World Cup title.

In other soccer news:

* Quebec officials said Montreal's Olympic Stadium will be ready to host a large soccer crowd in less than 2 weeks, despite the collapse of a concrete slab measuring more than 1,000 square feet inside a stadium parking lot. Tourism Minister Nicole Menard linked the accident to the ongoing expansion of a nearby soccer stadium for the Impact of MLS. But a Montreal civil engineering professor said he finds it hard to believe that work on the stadium would have triggered the collapse. The Impact are scheduled to play their first games at Olympic Stadium until the nearby Saputo stadium is renovated.

Olympic hurdles champion Dayron Robles will skip the world indoor championships in Istanbul this weekend because of a minor leg problem, a Cuban track official said. Robles was to return to Cuba to recover and continue preparing to defend his 2008 Olympic title in the 110-meter hurdles in London.