That's A Wrap

Well, another successful trip to Portugal for the U.S. WNT. Champions for the sixth time in this tournament and the Americans did it in style. For the USA, all four games were extremely entertaining and interesting . They featured some fantastic goals and a few wacky ones, but in the end four wins, 12 goals for and 1 against speaks for itself. There were a few upsets (not of the U.S. thankfully) and props to Iceland for winning all four of its games as well! The entire U.S. roster got to play and the USA took its second tournament championship under head coach Pia Sundhage. All in all, a great two weeks in Portugal for the USA, but all the players are very excited about going home (even though the bus leaves for the Lisbon airport at 4:00 a.m. Ugh). As always, the folks here in the Algarve were fantastic hosts, the country is beautiful and the entire WNT would like to thank everyone for their hospitality. Right now, all the players are at their favorite eatery getting victory crepes and ice cream. Well deserved for sure. And also a shout out to the local police, security and SWAT team guys...Never has one team felt more protected at the Algarve Cup. The players will get a week off and then it's back at it to prepare for the biggie: CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in Mexico. So for now, adios.

Dane-Ja-Vu

And that's the game! The U.S. captures the Algarve Cup once again! Stay tuned for more details.

WAMBACH PUTS U.S. AHEAD 2-1!

Abby Wambach, in the 59th minute has given the U.S. the lead!

Wambach was taken down while dribbling down the right side but there was no foul. The ball rolled toward the corner and Natasha Kai tracked it down.

She served it back in for Wambach who had gotten up quickly. Abby took the ball and fired a bouncer into the left corner of the net. Twice today that the U.S. has scored on their first shot of the half.

OH NO!! DENMARK TIES IT 1-1 IN THE 31ST

Denmark has turned on the jets midway through the first half, and tied the game on a Cathrine Sorensen goal. A seemingly routine service into the box gets nodded on by Sorensen and finds the back of the net. That's the first goal allowed by the U.S. in the 2008 Algarve Cup.

NATASHA KAI GET'S IT STARTED AGAIN!!! 1-0 USA

In the 14th minute, Natasha Kai has put the U.S. up 1-0 over Denmark. Left seemingly unmarked, Kai powers home a cross from Carli Lloyd on the USA's first shot of the game!

Dane-Ja Vue

The USA will face Denmark in the Algarve Cup championship for the second straight year, at the same stadium in which last year's final was played, and the U.S. team is hoping for a similar result...a victory. The final game is at a great sports complex on the edge of the Portuguese border with Spain, so the U.S. team will have at least an hour drive to get there. The players will definitely be bringing their iPods, books and magazines as one soon tires of the wonderfully scenic, yet repetitive Portuguese countryside during the drive. It should be an excellent final, matching a stingy Danish defense (zero goals allowed in the tournament) against the high-scoring U.S. attack (10 goals scored), but don't forget the USA has yet to allow a goal as well. We apologize if MatchTracker has crashed out on your while following the matches, but once again if you've been following the WNT Blog, these are technical issues that are out of our control and we hope they will soon be resolved.

Final Off Day in the Algarve

Slow news day here at the Algarve Cup. It was basically a day off for the U.S. team, and they've earned it after winning three games and scoring 10 goals to earn a place in the championship against Denmark tomorrow. About eight or nine players did go to the field for a "players practice," which meant no coaches, just an hour of doing whatever the heck they wanted to do. Some players did some running, hit some long balls, a bit of technical work and some shooting. Some players took a dip in the cold hotel swimming pool to sooth their tired legs and a few just flat out did nuthin'. The weather was once against spectacular and it was a good day to lounge around. There is an eatery called the American Diner close to the hotel and a bunch of players went to lunch there. We HIGHLY recommend the banana, strawberry and/or chocolate chip pancakes. The other day Lori Chalupny was at the American Diner and she just couldn't decide whether to get chocolate chip or banana pancakes. She was with Nicole Barnhart, who upon seeing Chalupa wracked with indecision, said: "Go for the chocolate chip banana pancakes. Do a combo." Chalulpa did. That's why Barnhart got into Stanford. Excellent problem solver.