75th min - Mia is fouled hard by Tornqvist as she tries to get around her - and the ref gives a card to Mia for griping about the Swede not getting booked! FK off the foul into the box but CP can't get to it. 76th min - CK by Mia, punched out for another CK 77th min - CK by Mia leads to a shot by CP, but it is blocked as it leaves her foot. 77:01 Olsson on for Svensson
89th min - Sweden now laying back, only looking for counter-attacks. as Schelin comes on for Oqvist. I wonder if they have a different understanding of what it would take for them to go through for the final?
85th min - CK by Mia 85:34 - Goal, Cat Reddick!!! After the CK cleared, it ends up with Brandi, who sets up Cat. I think that that goal was crucial. If I remember correctly, US had a +5 goal differential going into the game, and Sweden was -1. If the 3-0 had stood, both would have been at +2. 87th min Nordin comes on for Sjostrom
88th min - MT notes that France still leads 1-0, with 5 minutes left... Also, Portugal is ahead of Greece 3-0.
In extra time now, Abby gets off shot thats tipped over by the keepper for CK. Mia takes the CK, but nothing comes of it. Apparently, no indication of how much extra time there was...
That's it, the game has ended, with Sweden getting a 3-1 win. Now, everyone will have to wait to see if France has won or not. If they give up a tie, then Sweden would be through to the final. Stats with US listed first: Goals 1-3 Subs 4=4 Corners 11-3 Shots 13-11 Offside 1-2 Cautions 2-0
Thanks for the PBP. My MT crapped out at 26th minute. *sigh* Oh well. The Ape spin should be entertaining.
Looking at the 'Match Facts' section, I was wrong. Sweden was a -2, it was France that was -1. So the US will go through as long as France wins.
Well, it's been about 8 minutes now, and nothing up on MT yet about the result of the France-Denmark game. Come on, France!!!
Isn't the first tie-braker goal differential? In that case, France could lose or tie and the USA would go through. Sweden finished behind the USA no matter what. If France wins by 5 goals, France moves into #1 spot.
MT now says that France did win 1-0, so the US is through on goal differential! Whew!! This was the first game where the team really seemed to miss having Joy in the back, and I'm sure that Lil would have made a difference in the midfield. But, it is more important for them to be fit and rested for the Olys. Now, I wonder who will get to start against Norway?
No, in this tournament the first tie-breaker if two teams are involved is head to head. So if France lost, the US and Sweden would both have had 6 points. It was vital to have a three-way tie,
From U.S. Soccer Federation "QUARTEIRA, Portugal (Thursday, March 18, 2004) - The U.S. Women's National Team fell to Sweden today 3-1 in the final Group A match of the Algarve Cup. The U.S. wins the group on goal difference and advances to Saturday's final vs. Norway as France topped Denmark 1-0 in the other Group A match." Very confusing wording. USA advances in either case though.
By the looks of the starting line up April wanted to rest some key players. It's hard to tell with MT who the responsibilty of those goals falls on. Seeing as how Mia came in so late in the match I wonder if she was supposed to play at all. we'll have to wait for that heavily biased write up to put some perspective on it.
We should be in awe of April predicting the result of the France/Denmark match and planning on losing 3-1 accordingly?
um, no. we're in the final; just making the radical suggestion we have a coach for the championship game.
Why?? We have not had one for any of the earlier games or for a few years for that matter. If she was resting players then it was a STUPID move as we do not advance if France does not win. If she was trying to put the best possible lineup against Sweden then she either did not pick the best or the team was not ready for this game. Either way she failed again. I believe that we could have as good a result by having the players draw straws for starting positions and subbing by Tarot cards.
the u.s. has taken plenty of losses in the algarve before the ape. lets see if they can pull out the championship before the beheading.
US Soccer write-up on the game: "The first half was our best 45 minutes of the year," said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "We put together virtually everything that we've worked on in 2004. We had Sweden on their heels and in an environment I don't think they have experienced in three or four years against the USA where we had the ball and they were chasing and questioning what was going on." http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=55488
So we played the game EXACTLY as April wants and we scored 0 goals. Then we go on to LOOSING 3-1 and we played one half of the best then our second half must have been really horrible. Clearly, even if we win this tournament, we are not ready to play well every game. Loosing is not the problem BUT if we are playing at the top of our game and loosing then that is a bigger problem than I ever thought we had. So, April has brought us to the point where we can play our best and get beaten 3-1. Good job Ape.