US WNT Open Play In Algarve Cup February 24th

CHICAGO (Feb. 11, 2009) – Following a 20-day training camp at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named a 19-player roster for the 2010 Algarve Cup in Portugal.

This year’s tournament is being staged a week earlier than normal and will run from Feb. 24 through March 3. The U.S. team will depart for Europe on Feb. 18. The venues and kickoff times have yet to be confirmed.

All the games will be played at small venues spread across the Algarve region on the southern coast of the country, and the placement matches will take place on March 3. Fans can follow the USA’s intense schedule of four games in eight days online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and watch highlights on ussoccer.com.

The U.S. team, which has been placed into Group B at the annual tournament, will open play on Feb. 24 against Iceland, face Norway on Feb. 26 and finish the first-round on March 1 against Sweden, home country of U.S. head coach Sundhage. Group A features Germany, China, Finland and Denmark. The eight teams in Groups A and B are the same as in last year’s tournament with the groupings also virtually the same, the only difference being that Denmark and Sweden have swapped groups. Group C features host Portugal, Austria and first-time Algarve Cup participants Romania and the Faroe Islands.

This will be the 15th trip to the Algarve Cup for the U.S. Women, who have won the tournament six times, including an unprecedented three straight championships from 2003-05 at what has become one of the world’s most competitive international women’s events. Last year, the USA made its seventh consecutive Algarve Cup final but after scoring a late goal in regulation to tie the match at 1-1, fell to Sweden in penalty kicks. In the two previous tournaments, the USA defeated Denmark for the title, winning 2-0 in 2007 on goals from Kristine Lilly and Carli Lloyd and 2-1 in 2008 on goals from Natasha Kai and Abby Wambach. The USA advanced to the championship game of the 2006 Algarve Cup but fell in penalty kicks to Germany.