Simon's goals lift Aussies to victory

Kyah Simon scored twice Wednesday to give Australia a 2-1 win over Norway and put her team into the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup.

Elise Thorsnes gave Norway the lead in the 56th minute, but Simon tied it a minute later. Her powerful header from Kim Carroll's cross then won it in the 87th.

Australia plays Sweden in the quarterfinals. Norway needed to beat Australia to advance from Group D. It's the first time the team has failed to advance from the group stage at the World Cup.

"Sometimes things go for you and sometimes they go against you," Australia coach Tom Sermanni said. "I'm very proud of my players and very proud of their efforts and that they came back from 1-0 down to win . . . It will be a huge confidence booster for our players, not just for this tournament, but for other tournaments in future."

Fancy footwork is a Brazilian tradition, and Erika produced some samba skills to lead her team to a 3-0 win over Equatorial Guinea.

After the African outsiders neutralized the heavy favorites with dogged defending for 49 minutes, Erika controlled a loose ball on her chest, then tapped it from her right foot to the left to send a volley flying past goalie Miriam from 13 yards.

Five minutes later, Marta sent a low pinpoint cross into the center to set up Christiane for the second goal.

Christiane added the third goal from the penalty spot in injury time after Marta was brought down in the area.

"It was a really tough game for us. We didn't play the way we wanted," said Brazil coach Kleiton Lima.

Marta got her touches, but her marker Bruna continually tracked her. By assisting on the second goal and then drawing a foul from Bruna to set up the penalty kick, Marta did plenty for coach Lima.

"She was brilliant and she delivered," he said.

North Korea and Colombia drew 0-0. Neither team scored a goal in the tournament. -- AP