Soccer, 2012 Olympics | featured news

A year after blowing two leads in losing to Japan in the World Cup championship game, the USA women's soccer team was once again the best on the planet, and they wept at the power of it all.

They talked about redemption for months on end, and now it's here, the pending denouement of a script fit for Hollywood. With a 4-3 semifinal victory against Canada late in the second period of extra time Monday, the U.S. women's soccer team advanced to play Japan for Olympic gold. The Americans also get a shot at payback for the island nation's victory on penalty kicks in the World Cup last summer.

Police lost a set of keys at Wembley Stadium last week but security was not compromised at the London Olympic soccer venue, officials said Monday.

Former England captain David Beckham has failed to make the British soccer team for the London Olympics.

The star midfielder, whose record five-year, $32.5-million contract with the Major League Soccer club expired Dec. 31, will announce Thursday that he has reached agreement on a new contract for the 2012 season, which begins in March. Details of the contract were not immediately available but it is expected to call for a summer sabbatical from MLS play, allowing Beckham to play for the English team in the London Olympics.