The US Women's National Team were held to a 2-2 draw by North Korea in a rainy Women's World Cup opening game watched by 35,100 spectators at Chengdu Sports Center Stadium in China on Tuesday.

Most of the action happened in the second half, the highlights of the first being North Korea keeper Jon Myong Hui barely tipping a Cat Whitehill free kick wide in the 23rd minute and a powerful 40th minute header off the crossbar by Abby Wambach.

Only five minutes after the break, however, Kristine Lilly set up a wide open Wambach at the edge of the area for a shot. Despite Jon getting her hands to it, the ball went into the left side of the net.

The Koreans fought back quickly and the next minutes would be busy for US keeper Hope Solo. First, she had to punch away a dangerous cross from the left, and shortly after, snatched a loose ball from the feet of a Korean forward after a corner kick.

In the same situation, Wambach knocked heads with a Korean player and was taken off the field for treatment, leaving her teammates a player short for nine minutes.

The Koreans took full advantage of their numbers advantage. In the 59th minute, Kil Son Hui got off a seemingly harmless shot from the left edge of the penalty box, but the wet ball slipped through Solo's hands and into the net to level the score.

Only three minutes later, Shannon Boxx blocked a pass into the area, but the rebound fell to Kim Yong Ae to easily make it 2-1.

In the 69th minute, Lilly sent in a cross from the left that fell to Kong Hye Ok. Her clearance hit Ri Un Gyong, and Heather O'Reilly was in the right place to slam it into the top left corner for the equalizer.

The rest of the game went by as most of the first had until injury time when Ri Un Gyong received the ball from Ri Un Suk. She fired from 20 yards, but a fantastic stretch save by Solo at the left post kept the score knotted.

The next challenge for the US is Friday when they face Sweden, who drew Nigeria 1-1 in their group opener.

Scoring
USA - Abby Wambach 1 (Kristine Lilly) 50'
PRK - Kil Son Hui 1 58'
PRK - Kim Yong Ae 1 62'
USA - Heather O’Reilly 1 69'

Line-ups
USA - Hope Solo; Christie Rampone, Cat Whitehill, Shannon Boxx, Heather O’Reilly (Natasha Kai 90'), Carli Lloyd, Kristine Lilly, Stephanie Lopez, Kate Markgraf, Lori Chalupny, Abby Wambach

PRK -Jon Myong Hui; Kim Kwong Hwa, On Jong Ran, Song Jong Sun, Ho Sun Hui [Kim Yong Ae 22' (Jong Pok Sim 89')], Kil Son Hui, Ri Un Suk, Ri Un Gyong, Sonu Kyong Sun, Kong Hye Ok