Quarter Volley

It’s minute 64 and the US WNT sits pretty with a 2-0 lead over Denmark. A 14th minute goal by Kristine Lilly followed by Carli Lloyd’s goal (as predicted by yours truly) on 52 minutes have put the US in position to win the Algarve Cup. The US has put 8 of 12 shots on frame compared to 2 of 2 for the Danes, and holds a 7-0 corner kick advantage.

Haltime subs were Shannon Boxx for Leslie Osborne, and Lindsay Tarpley for Natasha Kai.

Aly Wagner for Player of the Tournament Carli Lloyd on 82 minutes, and Angela Hucles for Lori Chalupny who was playing in the midfield on 85.

On 87 minutes, the matchtracker reports that Italy beat Germany 1-0 for seventh place, and Iceland beat China 4-1 for ninth. I can’t imagine Germany or China being at full strength and losing to those teams (especially China by that score), so I wonder what kind of teams they took.

Wednesday March 14, 12:30pm EST - ussoccer.com Matchtracker
US WNT v. Denmark in the Algarve Cup Final
Smart money has Carli Lloyd scoring in her 4th consecutive match en route to winning the “Best Player” award for the tournament, and the US bringing home the Cup. The World Cup is not far off.

Wednesday March 14, 8:30pm EST - Fox Soccer Channel
Houston Dynamo v. Pachuca (Mex) in Leg 1 of the CCC semis
I’m pulling for Houston, MLS prosperity and all that. Pachuca won the 2006 Clausura and the 2006 Copa Sudamericana. Come on, you orange.

Thursday March 15, 8:00pm EST - Fox Soccer Channel
DC United v. Chivas (Mex) in Leg 1 of the CCC semis
If you’re a DC area United fan and aren’t at this one, what the hell are you doing? I just hope I don’t get struck by lightning inside the stadium. Word is that Chivas fans are sucking up tickets like goat blood for this one. I drink to prepare for a game. On Thursday I will be very prepared.

Today at 4:00pm EST, the US WNT faces off against Sweden needing to win in order to advance to the Algarve Cup Final. The teams are tied on 6 points, but the Swedes have the advantage in goal differential, and would thus go through in the event of a draw. I’ll be following this one on matchtracker as usual.

Carli Lloyd has scored the game winning goals in each of the two US games thus far in the Algarve. One in the 40th minute against China to make it 2-1, and the other 4 minutes after coming on as a halftime sub to score the only goal of the game against Finland. If I were Greg Ryan, I’d make sure Carli’s on the field at the start of this one.

In other news, the Columbus Crew beat FC Dallas 3-0 in the first ever Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup. I’m just stunned that Columbus scored 3 goals. Try not to use up all your offense in the preseason, fellas.

And we’re underway in 66 degree Ferreiras, Portugal.

17:00 - Huh. The game actually started at 11:15am EST. No pregame fan fair. Just as well. Briana Scurry’s in goal, goalscorers from the China match Carli Lloyd and Kristine Lilly are on the bench along with Abby Wambach (can I change my 3-0 scoreline prediction?). Angela Hucles, Aly Wagner, and Shannon Boxx make up the midfield with Lindsay Tarpley, Natasha Kai, and Heather O’Reilly at forward with a backline of Heather Mitts, Cat Whitehill, Tina Ellertson (Frimpong), and Christie Rampone.

A note about the married players, Ellertson and Marci Jobson, among others: Wagner got married at the end of ‘06 and is still Aly Wagner. No mention of whether she’s taking her husband’s (Adam Weir) name, but interesting to note since Ellertson and Jobson recently changed names, as well as so many other players (Cat Whitehill [Reddick], Kate Markgraf [Sobrero], Christie Rampone [Pearce], etc).

40:00 - 40 minutes in and the teams are level on shots 2-2, and the Fins have a 2-1 on goal advantage. The Fins just got issued a yellow when Maija Saari tackled Natasha Kai “NFL Style” after Kai tried what appears by description to be a Pasa de Vaca. The Fins appear to be bunkering in, and the US is trying to find a way around it.

50:00 - Carli Lloyd enters the match at halftime and scores on 49 minutes. 1-0 US with Lloyd’s 2nd goal in as many games.

5 substitutions happened at halftime (6 is the Algarve Cup limit) - to wit: Lloyd for Wagner, Wambach for O’Reilly, Lilly for Tarpley in only Lilly’s 12th match in 20 years in which she’s entered as a sub, Lori Chalupny for Hucles, and Stephanie Lopez for Ellertson. Imagine Finland, playing to a 0-0 draw against the US, and then having those players come off the bench as “subs”.

59:00 - Matchtracker shows that Sweden beat China in group play to go to 6 points, meaning the US must win or draw today and beat Sweden on Monday to advance to the title game.

66:00 - Since the 40 minute mark the US has outshot Finland 5-0.

90:00 - Final. US 1 - 0 Finland.

Highlights from Wednesday’s 2-1 US WNT victory over China are up on ussoccer.com. Today the US takes on Finland in what Quarter Volley predicts to be a 3-0 US victory. The Group B standings see the US 2nd behind Sweden that beat the Fins by the same 3-0 scoreline in their first group match.

In other group action, Denmark beat France 4-0 and Norway (surprisingly) edged Germany 2-1, among other matches.

Quarter Volley will be following the US/Finland match, which kicks off at 11:15am EST. Stay tuned.

It’s 2-1 right now in Portugal as the US WNT takes on China in their first group match of the tournament. Kristine Lilly gave the US a lead on 20 minutes, only to see the advantage disappear on 23 minutes through Han Duan of China. Carli Lloyd put the US back ahead on 40 minutes.

It is now minute 52 and the US have a 8-2 lead in shots, with a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal. Hope Solo is in goal, amd Stephanie Lopez got the start in midfield as Greg Ryan goes with a 3-4-3.

UPDATE

Carli Lloyd’s 40th minute goal was the difference maker as the US won 2-1. Sweden and Finland, the other two teams in the group, kicked off at 10:15 EST but I haven’t seen a result.

The 20-player US WNT Algarve Cup roster has been named, and there are quite a few changes from the Four Nations Tournament in China.

Goalkeepers: Brianna Scurry, Hope Solo

Defenders: Lori Chalupny, Tina Ellertson*, Stephanie Lopez, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, India Trotter, Cat Whitehill

Midfielders: Shannon Boxx, Angela Hucles, Marci Jobson**, Carli Lloyd, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner

Forwards: Natasha Kai, Kristine Lilly, Heather O’Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Abby Wambach

* = Formerly Tina Frimpong (married)
** = Formerly Marci Miller (married)

The team gets a boost in the defensive midfield with the return of Boxx for the first time since injury. Kate Markgraf is resting and recuperating and will not be making the trip. The return of veterans Lilly, Rampone, Wagner, and Wambach that did not go to China also boosts the team as all are likely to start. I wrote this on February 12:

The return of Wags and Boxx make for a more crowded midfield for players like Carli Lloyd, Leslie Osborne, Joanna Lohman, and Marci Miller. I would bet one of them gets left home.

This is one instance I hate being right, as one was left home: Lohman. With Osborne playing center half in absence of Boxx, and Lohman and Miller being able to do the same, it only made sense that one of them stays home. The only question left is as to whether Boxx starts in Portugal. I say no, as she’s just coming back and Osborne’s played very well. We’ll see.

The lack of inexperienced youngsters on this roster in large numbers (Lauren Cheney, Casey Nogueira, Yael Averbuch, etc) to me is indicative of Greg Ryan really going for the win in this tournament. The Algarve features the best teams in the world and Ryan is taking a team that appears to be able to compete at the highest level. The tournament runs from March 7 to March 14, and the team will play China, Finland, and Sweden in the group stage. It’s just a shame the games won’t be on TV.