2012 London Olympics: Britain's Footballers Close to Qualifying from Group after 3-1 Win Over UAE

Britain's Olympic football team went top of their group with a 3-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates, watched by a near-capacity crowd at Wembley.

Captain Ryan Giggs headed Team GB in front after 16 minutes, before Rashed Eisa surged through the British defence to equalise with an hour played.

Substitute Scott Sinclair restored the British lead with a close-range finish from Craig Bellamy's cross after 72 minutes, and fellow replacement Daniel Sturridge secured victory with a deft chip shortly afterwards.

The result means Team GB need only a point from their final group match against Uruguay to guarantee qualification for the knockout stage.

GB created plenty of chances against UAE, with Giggs and his Manchester United teammate Tom Cleverley outstanding, but Stuart Pearce's players appeared vulnerable to the speed of UAE's strikers, and the Emiratis fashioned several good opportunities themselves.

British goalkeeper Jack Butland was forced to make several excellent saves, and UAE enjoyed a period of dominance in the wake of their equaliser before Sinclair and Sturridge reasserted GB's superiority.

The match was watched by a crowd of 82,000 - easily the biggest audience for any competitive event at the 2012 Games so far.

Elsewhere, Senegal sprung a surprise with a 2-0 victory over Uruguay, who finished fourth at the 2010 World Cup, earlier in the day.

Spain, fielding several members of the squad which won last month's European Championship, were eliminated from the Olympics with a 1-0 defeat to Honduras in Newcastle.