Norway handed the U.S. women’s national team the worst defeat in its 13-year history when it crushed the USA 4-1 in the final Group A match of the Algarve Cup in Portugal. It was only the third match in which the U.S. has yielded four goals, and the first time the U.S. has been beaten by three goals. The U.S., which has never won the Algarve Cup, will now meet Sweden in the third-place match on March 21. A win, tie, or loss by less than three goals would have allowed the U.S. to play for the championship. “We took the game too lightly,” said U.S. coach Tony DiCicco. “At this level, against this kind of competition, it’s a game of mentality and we did not have it today. We had some bad mistakes in the back and it cost us a place in the final.” Norway came at the U.S. from the opening whistle, scoring twice in the first 12 minutes of play. In the 7th minute, a pass was stolen in midfield and the ball was sent forward to Marianne Pettersen, who fought past Joy Fawcett and slotted the ball past U.S. keeper Briana Scurry from 13 yards out. Just five minutes later, Scurry picked up a back-pass from Fawcett, giving the Norwegians an indirect free kick from 16 yards. Julie Foudy blocked the first attempt, but was given a yellow card for encroachment. The second opportunity was deflected and rolled past the wrong-footed Scurry to give Norway a 2-0 lead. The U.S. struggled to find a rhythm throughout the opening half, but started to click better just before the intermission. However, Norway’s Unni Lehn bounced a 17-yard shot over Scurry’s hand just five minutes into the second half to bump the lead to 3-0. Mia Hamm created the lone U.S. goal in the 69th minute. She dropped a pass to Michelle Akers at the top of the box, and the resulting blast was well saved by keeper Bente Nordby, but Hamm chased after the rebound and was fouled, setting up a penalty kick that Brandi Chastain converted to make the score 3-1. Had the score remained the same, the U.S. would have advanced to the championship match due to an advantage in goals scored. Unfortunately, Pettersen scored her second goal right off the ensuing kickoff, running past the U.S. defense on the left wing, turning the corner towards Scurry and beating her to the far post from three yards. “It’s a very, very disappointing result,” said DiCicco. The U.S. played without Tiffeny Milbrett, who is still suffering from the flu and did not accompany the team to the match. Shannon MacMillan played up front in her place, and Tiffany Roberts made her first start in over a year for the Americans. The third-place match between the USA and Sweden will take place March 21 in Quarteira. March 19 in Lagos USA 1 Norway 4. Goals: Chastain (pen.) 69; Pettersen 7, Risse 12, Lehn 50, Pettersen 70. USA — Scurry, Overbeck, Chastain, Fawcett, Roberts (Whalen, 77), Foudy, Venturini (Keller, 51), Lilly, Akers, MacMillan (Fair, 78), Hamm. Norway — Nordby, Viker, Kringen, Medalen, Nymark Andersen, Lehn (Ormen, 89), Risse, Knudsen (Fagereng, 81), Haugenes, Aarones (Gulbrandsen, 84), Pettersen. Yellow cards: USA — Foudy 12; Norway — Pettersen 40. Referee: Ingrid Jonsson (Denmark). Att.: 200.
Group A
March 19 — Norway 4 USA 1, China 1 Finland 0
FINAL STANDINGS | |
| TEAM | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| USA | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| China | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Finland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Group B
March 19 — Portugal 0 Denmark 2, Sweden 1 Netherlands 0
FINAL STANDINGS | |
| TEAM | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| Denmark | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Sweden | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
| Portugal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Placement Matches
All matches played March 21.
First Place — Norway vs. Denmark.
Third Place — USA vs. Sweden.
Fifth Place — China vs. Netherlands.
Seventh Place — Portugal vs. Finland.
