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Lindsay Tarpley assited on the lone US goal Wednesday. (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
�It was another great win against a pretty good team,� said U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage. �I was happy with the first half, but I think we went for Christmas time a little too early in the second half. China did a good job in the second half, but overall these two games have been good and it�s a great way to end the year. Everybody was happy to see the gold medalists and you could feel that. After everything we�ve done this year and listening to this crowd today, it was fantastic.�
The match marked the first held in Detroit for the U.S. women since 1993, which served as a homecoming for Michigan natives Kate Markgraf and Lindsay Tarpley, who earned the assist on O�Reilly�s goal.
The lone U.S. goal came in the 32nd minute shortly after a wild sequence in which a quick attack led by Tarpley and Tina Ellertson forced a back pass that was picked up by Chinese goalkeeper Zhang Yanru, earning a indirect free kick from just eight yards from goal. Zhang was issued a yellow card for her infraction and then a bit of chaos ensued as China set up its wall on the goal line. Zhang shoved Tarpley hard in the back several times before being warned by referee Margaret Domka, who also issued a card to Weng Xin Zhi during the fracas.
When order was restored, Angela Hucles rolled a short square pass to Carli Lloyd, who blasted her shot at goal, but it was deflected away by the Chinese wall.
The USA didn�t let China clear the defensive third and the ball was played back into Tarpley, whose looping shot from just inside the penalty hit the crossbar and rebounded straight to the crashing O�Reilly. The U.S. midfielder had time to quickly settle the ball and blast her shot under Zhang and into the net from eight yards out.
�I saw (the goalkeeper) off her line a little bit and I thought I would try it,� said Tarpley of her shot that struck the crossbar. �It felt pretty good leaving my foot, but fortunately Heather was there to finish it off. It was a great finish on her part to keep her shot low. Tonight was great and it was an incredible crowd. It�s so nice to be able to come back home and play in front of all these amazing fans.�
It was the USA�s fourth victory against China this year, all by shutout, winning three of the matches by 1-0 scores including the most recent game on Dec. 13 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
Connecticut native Kristine Lilly entered the match in the 54th minute to extend her world record for international appearances to 342.
The U.S. players will now have a little more than a month off before re-grouping in late January for a training camp to begin the 2009 schedule under Sundhage, who recently signed a four-year extension that will take her through the 2012 Olympics. The team will also compete in the 2009 Algarve Cup in Portugal in March before the players join their WPS teams for the inaugural season of the new women�s professional league.
U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT
Scoring Summary:
USA � Heather O�Reilly (Lindsay Tarpley) 32nd minute
Lineups:
USA: 1-Hope Solo (18-Nicole Barnhart, 46); 2-Heather Mitts (19-Marian Dalmy, 46), 3-Christie Rampone � Capt., 15-Kate Markgraf (4-Rachel Buehler, 46), 17-Lori Chalupny; 9-Heather O�Reilly (21-Kacey White, 62), 7-Shannon Boxx, 11-Carli Lloyd, 16-Angela Hucles (13-Kristine Lilly, 54); 20-Tina Ellertson (8-Amy Rodriguez, 42), 5-Lindsay Tarpley
CHN: 1-Zhang Yanru; 15-Zhou Gaoping, 5-Weng Xin Zhi, 2-Yuan Fan, 14-Liu Hua Na; 12-Wang Dan Dan (17-Gu Ya Sha, 64), 6-Zhang Na (3-Zhang Ying, 57), 7-Bi Yan - Capt. (19-Gao Yan, 83); 8-Xu Yuan, 10-Liu Sa (11-Lou Jiahui, 72), 9-Han Duan (4-Wang Kun, 83)
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