[ALGARVE CUP] The U.S. women's national team made it five wins in five international matches under new coach Pia Sundhage when it beat Italy, 2-0, on Friday at the Algarve Cup in Alvor, Portugal.
The Americans can clinch a berth in Wednesday's championship game with a win or tie against Norway on Monday in Alvor.
Former University of North Carolina teammates Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly scored for the USA, which has outscored its opponents, 15-1, so far this year.
Norway defeated China today, 3-1, also giving them six points, but the Americans head into the match with a superior goal difference, which is the first tiebreaker.
China's second straight heavy loss added to the turmoil in the Chinese national team program.
Frenchwoman Elisabeth Loisel, coach of the 2008 Olympic hosts, has threatened to resign unless officials replace the team's Chinese manager, Zhang Jianqiang.
In the Group A matches, defending Women's World Cup champion Germany rebounded from its 1-0 loss to Denmark to roll past Finland, 3-0 and the Danes picked up their second straight 1-0 win, this time over Sweden.
In Group C, host Portugal defeated Poland, 3-1, while Iceland pounded Ireland, 4-1, setting up a match with Portugal on March 10 for the Group C title.
Game Summary:
March 7 in Alvor
USA 2 Italy 0. Goals: Tarpley 6, O'Reilly 74.
USA — Solo, Cox, Markgraf (Whitehill, 46), Rampone, Chalupny (Buehler, 59), Boxx (Hucles, 76), Lloyd (Osborne, 46), Tarpley (Heath, 46), O'Reilly, Cheney, Wambach (Rodriguez, 71).
Italy — Marchitelli, Gama, D'Adda, Perelli, Motta, Tuttino, Zorri, Conti (Pini, 87), Domenichetti, Gabbiadini (Fuselli, 83), Panico.
Yellow card: Italy — Patrizia Panico 4.
Referee: Pannipar Kamnueng (Thailand).
Att.: 200.