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Kate Markgraf (right) returned to game action after missing time with an ankle injury. |
After fighting to attack against a blustery wind in the first half, the USA got the wind at their backs in the second half, scoring three times to put the game away. The USA outshot China, 14-2, after the break. The Chinese, already tired by the U.S. possession, seemed to fade even more with the wind in their faces.
Tarpley came out at halftime and was replaced by the youngest player on the USA’s roster, 19-year-old Tobin Heath. Like Tarpley, Heath scored on her team’s first shot of the half, this one coming less than two minutes after the restart.
Heath, playing in just her third cap, spied an errant back pass skidding past one of the Chinese center defenders and she pounced. With her first touch, she eluded a defensive lunge, then dribbled towards the left post before deftly lifting the ball over the sliding Zhang, for her first-ever full Women’s National Team goal.
The third goal came from a corner kick that was earned through good combination play by Heath and Buehler. Lloyd took the subsequent corner kick and it just missed substitute Natasha Kai’s head as she knifed through the box. The ball flew to the left corner where Boxx ran it down, did her best O’Reilly impression to beat a defender to the end line, then cut a short pass into the path of Wambach.
The U.S. forward met the ball first-time and spun her left-footer into net from seven yards out for her first goal of 2008 and the 87th of her career. The goal marked the third time in the last four years that Wambach has opened her annual account at the Algarve Cup.
Five minutes later, it was 4-0, and this goal was all Lloyd. She took a short pass from Kai about 30 yards from the net, blew past one defender, stuttered-step into the box to lose another Chinese marker and then crushed her 13-yard shot across the goal and into the left corner, giving Zhang no chance. It was Lloyd’s 11th career goal and first of 2008.
The match marked the first appearance for Kate Markgraf since she badly injured her ankle in the semifinal of the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She played the first half before giving way to Stephanie Cox, usually an outside back, who went the final 45 minutes in the center next to Rampone, the U.S. captain.
Goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart earned the shutout in her fifth career cap and just second game in three years. Barnhart did not have to make a difficult save and easily handled the few long balls and several crosses that came her way.
In the other Group B match, Norway defeated Italy, 4-1. In the Group A matches, defending Women’s World Cup champion Germany was upset by Denmark, 1-0, on a goal from Merete Pederson, while Sweden downed Finland, 3-1. In Group C, Iceland defeated Algarve Cup debutante Poland, 2-0, and host Portugal also got a 2-0 win, over Ireland.
The USA will next face Italy in Alvor on March 7. Kickoff for that match is 1:45 p.m. local / 8:45 a.m. ET. Fans can follow the match live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.
USA-China Scoring Summary
USA – Lindsay Tarpley (Carli Lloyd) 5th
USA – Tobin Heath (unassisted) 47th
USA – Abby Wambach (Shannon Boxx) 64th
USA – Carli Lloyd (Natasha Kai) 69th
Lineups:
USA: 24-Nicole Barnhart; 26-Rachel Buehler, 15-Kate Markgraf (14-Stephanie Cox, 46), 3-Christie Rampone – Capt., 17-Lori Chalupny; 7-Shannon Boxx (16-Angela Hucles, 70), 11-Carli Lloyd, 5-Lindsay Tarpley (13-Tobin Heath, 46), 9-Heather O’Reilly (10-Angie Woznuk, 78); 19-Amy Rodriguez (6-Natasha Kai, 60), 20-Abby Wambach (8-Lauren Cheney, 78)
CHN: 1-Zhang Yanru, 3-Le Jie - Capt., 4-Kun Wang, 6-Zhang Ying (5-Jiang Shuai, 72); 7-Bi Yan, 8-Zhang Na (17-Zhang Cheng, 80), 11-Xie Caixia (14-Guo Yue, 70), 16-Liu Yali, 20-Zhang Tong; 22-Xu Yuan (10-Yue Min, 80), 9-Han Duan
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