Charmaine Hooper scored early, and Canada went on to outmuscle China 1-0 Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup.

Li Jie (3), Fan Yunjie (5) and Sun Wen react after losing 1-0 to Canada in the 2003 Women's World Cup quarterfinals Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003. [AP]

Germany defeated Russia 7-1 in the earlier match, advancing to oppose the United States on Sunday. Canada goes on to play Sweden in the other semifinal at Portland's PGE Park.

Christine Latham challenged Han Wenxia early in the match, but the Chinese goalkeeper made a diving stop at the corner of her goal.

A minute later, Han was unable to stop Hooper's dramatic header into the net as Canada went ahead in the seventh minute.

Sun Wen, who had just one goal in the tournament and needed one more to tie Michelle Akers' World Cup record of 12, missed a shot on Canada goaltender Taryn Swiatek in the 16th minute, and jumped up and down in frustration.

Meanwhile, Canada was able to keep the technically proficient Chinese from scoring with savvy, physical play. When Bai Jie came charging in on the goal in the 68th minute, defender Sharolta Nonen kept up the pressure until Swiatek was able to fall on the ball.

China, which came into the competition as one of the favorites, had trouble scoring goals with just three in the first round. China opened competition with a 1-0 victory over Ghana, a 1-1 tie with Australia and a 1-0 win over Russia.

Originally scheduled to host this year's World Cup before the SARS virus outbreak, China advanced to the final in 1999 before losing to the host United States on penalty kicks.

Sun, who plans to retire at the end of the year, led the 1999 tournament with seven goals and has 106 in her career.

Canada, known for its height and physical strength, lost 4-1 to Germany in its first game, but rebounded with victories over Argentina and Japan to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time.

The announced attendance at PGE Park, home of baseball's Triple-A Portland Beavers, was 20,021.

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