Kicking in a Winter Wonderland - USWNT 1, Mexico 0

Playing in a snowstorm in Rio Tinto Stadium, the USWNT defeated Mexico 1-0 in an international friendly played this evening. Abby Wambach scored the 2nd half goal in the 60th minute on a low cross from Shannon Boxx. The play started with Kristine Lilly making a nice touch to free Boxx on the left side of the penalty area. She drew the goalkeeper to the near post and sent the ball across to a charging Wambach who easily finished. It was Wambach's 105th international goal. Perhaps even more amusing was the goal celebration, which saw Wambach, Boxx, and teammates doing snow angels before a courageous Sandy, Utah crowd.

Snow accumulated over most of the field, although the penalties areas were somewhat cleared before each half. The US outshot Mexico 20-4 for the match in very difficult playing conditions. The game saw Brittany Taylor and Alex Morgan pick up their first caps, and Kelley O'Hara her second after debuting on Sunday in the US 3-0 victory over Mexico. Nicole Barnhart got the shutout for the US.

Natasha Kai Signs with PUMA®

From WPS press release.

US Women's National Team and Sky Blue FC forward Natasha Kai has signed with PUMA®. The signing of Kai reinforces PUMA's commitment to WPS and the sport in general. PUMA will be Kai's official supplier of soccer equipment and she will be featured in PUMA marketing campaigns.

Kai, one of WPS's most exciting players on the field and most exciting personalities off the field, is a native of Hawaii, where she played her college soccer. Last season, she scored 6 goals in leading Sky Blue FC to the WPS Championship. She also has 67 USWNT caps to her credit. PUMA is a founding sponsor of Women's Professional Soccer.

“Not only is Natasha one of the most talented female players in the game, she’s also a wonderful fit for the brand,” said Jay Piccola, president and general manager of PUMA North America. “She’s bold, she’s colorful, she’s dynamic, and she does things differently in the same way that we strive to. When Natasha steps on the field, everyone takes notice — and we’re thrilled to have that energy as part of the PUMA family.” Kai’s feelings are mutual: “I love color, style, fashion. With me, what you see is what you get, and I’m not afraid to show who I am. I’m extremely excited, because I’ve been searching for product that truly fits my personality, and PUMA is a perfect match for me both on and off the field.”

,

PUMA is a global leader in the game of soccer as the official apparel, footwear, and equipment supplier for WPS. PUMA also represents four-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta, in addition to WPS athletes Karina Le Blanc, Amy Rodriguez, and Leslie Osborne. Internationally, PUMA Football’s portfolio includes five European National Teams, including current FIFA World Cup™ holders Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Czech Republic and 12 African soccer Federations including the current CAF African Cup of Nations™ holders Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Tunisia, Namibia, Morocco, Angola, Senegal, and Togo. PUMA is a sponsor to seven of the qualifying teams of this year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup. PUMA is also partnered with top international women’s club, Umea IK.

Damallsvenskan 2010 preview 3

... and the rest...

The four teams previously profiled (Linköpings FC, Umeå IK, LdB FC Malmö, and Kopparbergs/Göteborg) are the favorites to finish in the top four. The top two finishers in the 12-team league will be in the UEFA Women's Champions League; at the other end, the bottom two teams will be relegated to a lower division.

Let's now check out the two teams that were newly promoted this year, Jitex BK and Tyresö FF. Jitex is headquartered in the town of Mölndal on Sweden's west coast, and games against K/Göteborg will be considered derbies. They have a tough start to the season against last year's second place Umeå. Notable players include goalkeeper Stephanie Öhrström, who was the second keeper last year for LdB FC, and Finnish international Annica Sjöland, who played last year for AIK.

Tyresö is just to the southeast of Stockholm, and its football team seems to have high ambitions. Player recruited in the off-season include goalkeeper Carola Söberg from Umeå, who played in last year's WPS All-Star game for Umeå. Another WPS connection is defender Johanna Frisk, who played last year for the (now defunct) LA Sol, and before that for Umeå. Forward Elin Ekblom Bak, who nominally played last for AIK, returns from maternity leave to greatly strengthen the side. Of the two newly-promoted teams, Tyresö probably has the far better chance to remain in the top league next year.

If Tyresö FF does manage to stay up top, it will probably come at the expense of Kristianstads DFF, who had a very bad start to the 2009 season, but who rallied to finish a strong 10th. Kristianstad has two players for the Icelandic nation team, Gudny Björk Odinsdottir (Guðný Björk Óðinsdóttir), who played last for Valur in Iceland, and Margret Lara Vidarsdottir (Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir), who had a rather good season with winners Linköping last year.

And now finally we come to the difficult five teams in the middle, including the Stockholm teams AIK, Djurgårdens IF, and Hammarby IF DFF; Karlslunds IF Örebro (from the city of Örebro), and Sunnanå (from Skellefteå). Of these, Örebro is almost certainly the strongest, having not been hurt by retirements and/or transfers as much as some of the others. They return Finnish stars Sanna Talanen and Sanna Valkonen and Sweden's 2nd keeper Kirsten Hammarström. Just as importantly, perhaps, they have coach Richard Holmlund, who was successful at Umeå for many years.

Hammarby IF DFF has lost stalwart Kicki Bengtsson to retirement and sometimes national team defender Karin Lissel to Tyresö, but otherwise keeps most of its squad from 2009, including standouts Nazanin Vaseghpanah and Annica Svensson. Hammarby has also swapped defenders with Djurgården, acquiring Therese Brogårde while losing Elin Sölveskog.

Djurgården retains the services of its Icelanders goalkeeper Gudbjörg Gunnarsdottir (Guðbjörg Gunnarsdóttir) and defender Gudrun Gunnarsdottir (Guðrún Gunnarsdóttir). Victoria Sandell Svensson returns in an administrative capacity. But they lose most of the rest of last year's starters, and it will be a tough season for them; I have not seen any local predictions that they will finish as well as last year's sixth place.

Sunnanå keeps its international stars Brazilian keeper Bárbara Micheline do Monte Barbosa and Nigerian Perpetua Nkwocha; they lost Hanna Marklund to retirement and Kathryn Gill to LdB FC. Sunnanå plays surprisingly well against its southerly neighbors Umeå, quite often shocking them with a tie or win; this year, winning this ersatz derby will be more difficult for them.

AIK returns some strength in the defense with defender Linda Sembrant and goalkeeper Maja Åström, and they have promoted some of their developmental players. On paper though they have lost some offensive capability with the defections of Louise Fors and Annica Sjölund; of the players remaining, Sembrant is tied with another defensive player, Sofia Simonsson, for the most goals last year.

WPS Preseason Results: March 25-27

WPS teams continued their preseason this past week. Many of the teams are taking a last look at their players before trimming their rosters to 22. It is important to note that results of games can be a bit misleading. Many teams are missing players that are in USWNT camp preparing for their friendlies against Mexico or players that are with their teams in Europe playing WC qualifiers.

Results from the last couple of days:

FC Gold Pride 10, Univ of San Francisco 0
Goals: Sinclair 2, Yokers 3, Milbrett 2, Wilson, Edwards, Dew.

Florida State 2, Atlanta Beat 1
Goals: FSU-McCarty, Cayman Atlanta-Thompson

Philadelphia Independence 0, Washington Freedom 0

Sky Blue 3, Rutgers 0
Goals: Kai 2, Dallstream.

The Atlanta Beat will continue their busy preseason schedule taking on the University of North Carolina today in Kennesaw. Next Saturday, in the final preseason matchup of two WPS teams, Atlanta will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on Saint Louis Athletica.

Starting this week, I will be previewing each team in anticipation of the WPS season. Regular season play begins the weekend of April 10-11.

WPS Preseason

In WPS action on Wednesday:

Chicago 1, Notre Dame 0
Goals: Sitch (Cristiane).

Saint Louis 3, Univ of Missouri 0
Goals: Edlund (2), Walter.

Boston 3, Univ of Florida 0
Goals: Del Rio (Weimer); Igwe (Del Rio); G. DiMartino (Zimmeck).

WPS Exhibition: Atlanta Defeats Breakers in First Matchup Against WPS Opponent

From Atlanta Beat press release:

The Atlanta Beat has defeated the Boston Breakers 2-1 in a WPS exhibition match played in St. Augustine, Florida this evening. Monica Ocampo and Mami Yamaguchi scored the goals for Atlanta, while Claire Zimmeck scored the Breakers' only goal.

“We scored two very nice goals,” said Beat Head Coach Gareth O’Sullivan. “We looked like we had a third goal in us, and the team showed great character to pull-out the win after Boston scored late in the second half.”

O'Sullivan was also very happy with his team's defensive effort. “With every preseason game, we are looking to make adjustments and to improve defensively as a unit,” said the Coach, “Tonight was a good step to prove ourselves against a quality opponent.”

Atlanta still has scrimmages against NCAA powers Florida State and North Carolina, before facing Saint Louis Athletica in their final preseason contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 3.

2010 WPS All-Star Game in Atlanta to Feature Unique Format

From WPS official press release:

WPS has announced that the 2010 All-Star game will be played in Atlanta's new stadium at Kennesaw, Georgia on June 30 and not only will the stadium be new, but so will the format for this year's game.

This year will feature a "pick-em" format. 36 players will be chosen to make the make the trip to Atlanta. 22 will be chosen in much the same way as last year in a combined voting process by coaches, players, media, and fans. 14 players will be All-Star coach/Commissioner selections. The highest voted domestic and the highest voted international players will be named as captains. The two captains plus the two head coaches will then pick their teams "playground" style in alternating selections in a publically held event.

Online voting for fans will begin in May. Media and teams will vote in June. This format will surely make for some lively conversation and discussion. “Atlanta, with its wonderful new stadium built specifically for WPS, will be a fantastic venue for our second WPS All-Star Game,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “We decided to try something different this year with our format and move the date to mid-season to provide some separation from our WPS Championship. It should make for an incredible mid-summer festival of the world’s best soccer league for women.”

Last year's game in St. Louis pitted the WPS All-Stars against Umeå IK of Sweden. The WPS All-Stars edged Umeå by a 4-2 margin in that match.

WPS Preseason Notes: Mid-March Edition

All 8 WPS teams have reduced their rosters to 24 players as of Tuesday and have one more series of cuts to make to get down to 22 players (18 full roster players + 4 developmental players) by the April 1 deadline.

Six of the 8 teams are playing preseason exhibitions or scrimmages this weekend. One game has two WPS teams facing each other. The Boston Breakers are scheduled to take on defending champions Sky Blue FC on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida.

Other games feature WPS teams taking on top college programs. Philadelphia is set to match up against NCAA champion North Carolina in Downingtown, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon. Washington Freedom will play another top ACC program, the University of Virginia, on Saturday. Meanwhile, Saint Louis Athetica travels to Columbia, Missouri to play the University of Missouri in a scrimmage.

Atlanta has two upcoming preseason matches. On Friday, they will meet the US U-20 team in St. Augustine, Florida and then play the University of Florida on Sunday in Gainesville.

The Chicago Red Stars are returning home at spending 10 days training in Florida. FC Gold Pride's next scheduled preseason match is against the University of San Francisco on Thursday.

A quick look around the league:

Atlanta - The Beat waived veteran Canadian defender Sharolta Nonen as one of their final roster cuts on Thursday. Atlanta's back line roster appears to be pretty thin at this point, with Shameka Gordon added to the injured list.....Atlanta has invited Kerri Hanks and Lauren Sesselmann in for a look. For Hanks, this is her 3rd camp this spring after previously being released by Sky Blue and Philadelphia.....The Beat have a very busy schedule coming up. In addition to the 2 games listed above, they also have matches scheduled against the Boston Breakers and UNC in the next week.

Boston - The Breakers have added Chioma Igwe to their preseason camp. Igwe was waived by Chicago earlier after playing 15 games for the Red Stars last season.....Boston tied the US U-20 team 2-2 on Wednesday. Breakers goals were scored by Fabiana and Kristine Lilly....Algarve Cup star Lauren Cheney will be joining the team in Florida this week.

Chicago - The Red Stars finished their Florida trip with a 2-0 victory over South Florida on goals by Cristiane and Brittany Klein.....Chicago has scheduled a trio of preseason matches against midwestern colleges Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Illinois.....Brazilian veteran Formiga is not in camp as of yet because of visa delays.

FC Gold Pride - On Thursday, FCGP released Jamie Souza, thus reducing their goalkeeper roster to 3, Nicole Barnhart, Brittany Cameron, and Erin Guthrie.....Brazilian star and WPS Golden Boot and MVP winner, Marta, arrived in camp earlier this week.....Rosie Tantillo made the 24 player roster as a free agent, after scoring a goal against TEPCO Mareeze last weekend.

Philadelphia - The Independence waived their highest draft pick, Malorie Rutledge, on Thursday. Rutledge was the 13th overall pick in the 2010 draft.....Philly also added Amy Smerdzinski back to their preseason camp after releasing her a week ago.....Philadelphia has signed Heather Mitts to a 3-year contract.

Saint Louis - Athletica officially announced the signing of Madelaine Edlund and Elaine this week.....Unlike last year, Athletica will share their Soccer Park facility with the city's new NASL entry, AC St. Louis.....Shannon Boxx saw her first action as a member of Athletica last Saturday against the University of Illinois and scored a goal in that match.

Sky Blue FC - SBFC defeated Florida State 5-0 in preseason action on Wednesday.....Owing to a fairly crowded roster situation, expect some top notch college players from 2009 to be on Sky Blue's developmental roster.....Sky Blue's regular season opener will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel on Sunday, April 11.

Washington - The Freedom are returning north after a successful Florida trip in which they defeated the US U-23 teams and the Chicago Red Stars in exhibition matches.....Sarah Huffman scored a goal in that Red Stars game after missing nearly the entire 2009 season due to injuries.....Washington started camp with 6 goalkeepers, the most by any team. It appears that two of last year's developmental keepers, Meagan McCray (FC Gold Pride) and Jaimel Johnson (Chicago) will be battling for the 3rd GK spot on the Freedom's roster.

WPS Teams Pare Rosters to 24

Today was the deadline for WPS teams to trim their rosters to 24 and there were only a few surprises. Among the few veterans cut that saw substantial playing time last year were Kerri Hanks (former Athletica and Sky Blue), who was waived by Philadelphia and Sharolta Nonen (former LA Sol) who was waived by Atlanta. Chioma Igwe, who saw extensive playing time with the Chicago Red Stars in 2009, had been waived earlier. Final rosters, consisting of 18 full roster players + 4 developmental players will be announced on April 1.

Philadelphia released their 24 player roster with Hanks listed as one of the 24, but later in the day added Dani Collins back to the roster and waived Hanks, the only player so far to score a goal with 2 different WPS teams.

Atlanta's 24 player roster also does not include Christine Latham, who was waived as well. Latham had been waived by Boston, where she had spent the 2009 season. Meanwhile, Boston trimmed their roster, including two players that saw brief action with the team last year, Erika Sutton and Mary-Frances Monroe. All 7 of Chicago's college draft picks made the Red Stars' 24 player roster.

Probably the most notable player not making the final 24 for FC Gold Pride was Lindsay Massengale, who saw action in 4 games during the 2009 season. The Washington Freedom cut two of the 6 goalkeepers they had in camp, Mary Casey and Lauren Robertson, as well as 2009 developmental player Christen Karniski. Among Sky Blues' cuts was former WUSA player, Jen Grubb. And Saint Louis Athletica actually trimmed their roster down to 23 players. Among the players who made the roster is India Trotter, who had been drafted by Athletica way back in October, 2008 only to announce that she was retiring at that time.

WPS Announces New Partnership with Citi

Women's Professional Soccer has announced a new founding partner, Citi. The global financial services giant joins PUMA, a founding partner in the WPS inaugural season. The Citi logo will appear on the back of all team jerseys, just below the number. This represents a major breakthrough for WPS, their first national jersey sponsor.

“Given our global reach, Citi is thrilled to contribute to the growth of the world's most popular game here in the United States,” said Mark Ingall, Citi Managing Director, Global Strategic Media. “More and more Americans, including millions of women and girls, play and follow the game. This partnership will be an effective platform to attract and retain customers, including young women and families in local communities across the country. We are very pleased to support these tremendous athletes and their passionate fans."

“We are proud to welcome Citi into the WPS family,” said Commissioner Antonucci. “Our national partners are so vital to the growth of our league and helping spread the message that women’s professional soccer is a world class product that is here for everyone to enjoy in the long term.”

Damallsvenskan 2010 preview 2

Stability in the next two places

Last year's third and fourth place teams, LdB FC Malmö and Kopparbergs/Göteborg, ended the season tied on points, with LdB finishing ahead through a clear edge in goal differential. Unlike last year's top two teams Linköping FC and Umeå IK, both LdB and K/G will return with most of the same players that served them so well in 2009.

LdB FC Malmö has picked up Australian international Kathryn Gill, who played last year for Sunnanå, and had a head or foot in each of Australia's three goals against North Korea last week. LdB also returns national team midfielders Therese Sjögran and Nilla Fischer, and defender Lina Nilsson, while they have lost Czech player Pavlína Ščasná to WPS's Atlanta Beat. LdB start the season on April 5 in an away match in Stockholm against Hammarby, which should be a victory for LdB.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg returns most of its squad from last year, including last season's point and goal leader (and "Breakthrough of the Year" winner) Linnea Liljegärd. They also keep national team regulars goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl and defender Stina Segerström, and national-team-sometimes midfielder/forwards Johanna Almgren and Sara Lindén. They also acquire midfielder Lisa Dahlqvist, late of Umeå IK, who had a good showing for the national team in last year's European Championships. Veteran defender Jane Törnqvist had knee surgery in the off-season and does not seem to have played in pre-season matches. K/G starts its season on April 3 with an away match against Linköping FC, in what will be a hard test for each team.

Athletica To Be Honorary Co-Chairs of Race For the Cure®

Saint Louis Athletica will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of this year's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, to be held on June 12, in downtown St. Louis. The annual race is held to benefit and raise awareness for breast cancer research.

Last season, Athletica sported specially designed pink and white kits for one home game to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Puma also designed a special pink soccer ball for the match. This year, the team will play two games dedicated breast cancer research and awareness, on May 16 against Sky Blue FC and on June 12 against Atlanta. Puma will once again provide a specially designed game ball for those matches. The first match will also serve as a registration drive for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

USWNT Squad Announced for Friendlies vs. Mexico

Pia Sundhage has announced her 24 player squad for a pair of friendlies to be played later this month against Mexico. And once again, there are a lot of new faces, as well as the return of one very familiar face.

New additions to the team include defenders Whitney Engen (UNC, Chicago Red Stars), Brittany Taylor (Connecticut, Sky Blue FC), and forwards Kelley O'Hara (Stanford, FC Gold Pride) and Alex Morgan (California). Morgan is the only non-WPS player on the team. Additionally, Jill Loyden who was on the Algarve squad, but hasn't gotten her first cap yet, was named as one of three keepers for the matches against Mexico.

Fans will also welcome the return of veteran Kristine Lilly to the USWNT. Lilly is the most capped player in history with 342 and returns to the team for the first time since late 2008.

The US will play Mexico on March 28 at Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego and on March 31 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The last time the US played in San Diego was the match immediately preceding the 2008 Olympics when Abby Wambach broke her leg in a friendly against Brazil.

WPS Teams Announce Preseason Rosters and Schedules

Preseason camp for most WPS teams started today and the league has released a master schedule of all preseason matches, including scrimmages. Several of the teams will be heading south to Florida for varying lengths of time for training and scrimmages. Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Sky Blue, and Washington will all play scrimmages or exhibitions in the Sunshine State.

Many of the matches are against college teams, however there are a few games where WPS teams face each other, notably:

March 12-Chicago Red Stars vs. Washington Freedom at Vero Beach, Florida.
March 20-Boston Breakers vs. Sky Blue FC at Gainesville, Florida.
March 23-Atlanta Beat vs. Boston Breakers at St. Augustine, Florida.
March 27-Philadelphia Independence at Washington Freedom (Boyds, Maryland).
April 3-Atlanta Beat vs. Saint Louis Athletica at Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Teams are allowed to start with a 28 player roster. By March 16th, those rosters must be reduced to 24 players. On April 1, the final full rosters of 18 players plus 4 developmental players are finalized.

Damallsvenskan 2010 preview 1

League leaders lose a lot

Last year's top two teams in Damallsvenskan, Linköpings FC and Umeå IK, have both been hard hit by players moving, mostly to WPS teams. LFC loses their top three offensive players (Kosovare Asllani to Chicago Red Stars, Jessica Landström to New Jersey Sky Blue, and Caroline Seger to Philadelphia Independence). Linköping is hoping that forward Josefine Öqvist, who was injured for most of last year, will stay healthy and regain her scoring form; the club has also acquired Finnish forward Linda Sällström who played last at Djurgården. On defense, LFC retains the services of national team player Charlotte Rohlin and Nigerian international Faith Ikidi, both of whom who had good seasons last year, and goalkeeper Sofia Lundgren, who is currently third keeper for the national team.

LFC is out of the Women's Champions League after tying at home and then losing to the Frauenbundesliga's Duisburg last year; LFC's first game of the year will be against Umeå IK in the Supercup (a single game between last year's top two teams) on March 21. LFC's domestic season starts April 3 against Kopparbergs/Göteborg, which will be a challenging start for them. Sky Blue fans interested in getting a peek at what Landström can do might be interested in the brief highlights from last year's K/G v. LFC game (a longer match report in English).

Umeå IK loses their top goal scorer and point leader Ramona Bachmann (Atlanta Beat) as well as their second (Madeline Edlund, to St. Louis Athletica) and third (Johanna Ramussen, also to the Beat) top point getters. Their fourth most effective offensive player, long-time Umeå stalwart Hanna Ljungberg, retired in some haste in the middle of last season due to persistent injuries; Umeå also loses Mami Yamaguchi (Atlanta Beat) and Lisa Dahlkvist (Kopparbergs/Göteborg). Frida Östberg, who played last year for Chicago, has returned to her old club UIK after what must have been the shortest retirement in the history of women's football.

UIK will get long headstart on the domestic season, hosting French side Montpellier in the Women's Champions League quarterfinal on March 10 with the return a week later. Last year UIK crashed out of the same tournament (then known as the UEFA Women's Cup) by losing to Russian side Zvezda on a frozen pitch; like last year, Umeå (and most of the rest of Sweden) is still covered in plenty of snow, which might help UIK against Montpellier more than it did against Zvezda. UIK then has the Supercup match against Linköping on the 21st, and their league opener on April 5 against newcomers Jitex, which ought to be an easy win for them.

Up next in part 2: preview for LdB FC Malmö and Kopparbergs/Göteborg

US Defeats Germany for Algarve Title 3-2

The United States got goals from Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, and Lauren Cheney to defeat Germany 3-2 in the Algarve Cup final. Germany was led by Inka Grings, who scored both of their goals, giving her 7 for the tournament.

In the 3rd place game, Sweden defeated China 2-0. Other finals:

5th: Denmark 2, Norway 1.
7th: Romania 1, Finland 0.
9th: Iceland 3, Portugal 0.
11th: Austria 6, Faroe Islands 0.

Canada win Cyprus Cup

Canada beat New Zealand 1-0 in Cyprus Cup final today.

Cyprus Cup is 8 nations tournament that take place every year in Cyprus.

Standings :

1. Canada
2. New Zealand
3. Netherlands
4. Switzerland
5. England
6. Italy
7. Scotland
8. South Africa

Red Stars Sign Formiga

The Chicago Red Stars have completed the international portion of their roster, adding Brazilian midfielder Formiga. She is a veteran of three World Cups and four Olympics.

Last season, Formiga was a member of FC Gold Pride, playing in 16 matches for the Bay Area side. In September, FCGP waived the 2010 option on her, making her a free agent. She joins Karen Carney, Katie Chapman, Kosovare Asllani, and Cristiane as Chicago's international players. Tomorrow is her 32nd birthday.

It's Number 1 vs. Number 2 in Algarve Cup Final

The two top ranked teams in the world according to FIFA rankings will meet to decide the championship of the 2010 Algarve Cup. The US will meet Germany on Wednesday at 11 am eastern time.

The last time these two teams met was in October at Augsburg, Germany before a huge crowd of over 30,000. The US came out on top in that match by a 1-0 score. Strangely enough, the two teams did not meet in either the 2007 World Cup or 2008 Olympics.

Germany had very little trouble getting out of Group A in the competition at Algarve, winning all three matches by a combined score of 16-0. Ten different players have scored for the Germans. Inka Grings has scored 5 of those goals and has moved into 3rd on Germany's all-time leading scorer list with 55 goals. Teammate and three-time FIFA Player of the Year, Birgit Prinz is at the top of that list with 126 goals.

The US were able to defeat three strong opponents in Group B, including last year's Algarve champion, Sweden. The Americans have been led by Lauren Cheney and Abby Wambach, with 3 and 2 goals respectively. Lori Lindsey has added 3 assists for the US.

The two teams met in both the 2005 and 2006 Algarve Cup finals, splitting the two decisions.

US and Germany Advance to Algarve Final

Lauren Cheney's brace led the US to a 2-0 victory over Sweden and a berth in the Algarve Cup final. Germany advanced to the final from Group A with an easy 5-0 victory over China.


The US and Sweden played a scoreless first half, but Cheney subbed in at the break and it proved to be a fortuitous move by Pia Sundhage. Cheney scored her first in the 56th minute and added another in the waning moments of the match. For Cheney, it was her 2nd and 3rd goals of the competition. Lori Lindsey assisted on Cheney's second goal, giving her an assist in each match of the tournament.

The Germans were dominating in Group A, outscoring their three opponents by 16-0. The final will be played on Wednesday.

In other Algarve action, Norway edged Iceland 3-2 and Denmark won over Finland by a 2-1 margin.