U.S. Soccer: Heinrichs names roster for pre-Algarve camp

U.S. women’s national team coach April Heinrichs chose 29 players for a March 2-6 training camp in Orlando, Fla., from which she will choose an 18-player Algarve Cup roster. The USA will depart for the Portugal tournament on March 7. For the second straight time, Heinrichs did not include Women’s World Cup ’99 players Tiffany Roberts, Danielle Fotopoulos or Tracy Ducar on her original list of players. Roberts was a late replacement for Cindy Parlow in the last Florida camp after Parlow hurt a hamstring. The 2000 Algarve Cup will run from March 12-18 and features four countries that will be participating in the 2000 Olympics this fall. World Cup ’99 participants Canada, China, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the USA join Finland and host Portugal in one of the most competitive international women’s soccer events outside of the World Cup and the Olympics. The tournament is played in the Algarve region of Portugal on the southern tip of the country. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four, with first-round play consisting of round-robin matches within the group. The USA was drawn into Group A with Sweden, Portugal and 1999 Women’s World Cup opener opponent Denmark. Group B consists of China, Norway, Canada and Finland. At the end of round-robin play, the group winners will play for the championship. The two second-place group finishers will play for third place, the third-place finishers for fifth and the last-place finishers will play for seventh. The USA will play Portugal on March 12, Denmark on March 14 and Sweden on March 16. The placement games will take place on March 18. U.S Women’s National Team Roster