WNT: Canada - USA [R]

[DJT]

Canada 0 USA 2

From http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2004/01/30/330195-cp.html:

Canada winless at Four Nations

SHENZHEN, China (CP) - Lindsay Tarpley and Joy Fawcett scored as the U.S. defeated Canada 2-0 Tuesday to win the Four Nations soccer tournament, leaving the winless Canadian women at the bottom of the standings.

China placed second after rallying from behind to steal a 2-2 tie with Sweden, which finished third.

Canada previously lost 2-1 to China and 3-1 to Sweden.

The tournament, now in its third year, is a warmup for Olympic qualifiers which start later this month.

Tarpley, in her first overseas competition with the senior U.S. team, opened scoring in the 13th minute, driving the ball past Canadian keeper Karina LeBlanc. Fawcett converted a penalty in the 36th minute after Abby Wambach was brought down in the Canadian box.

Sweden's Therese Sjogran opened scoring in the 30th minute with a looping shot from outside the area. China's Li Jie replied back eight minutes later, converting a penalty. Josefine Oqvist added a second goal for Sweden in the 83rd minute, beating Chinese 'keeper Xiao Zhen and a defender to slot in the go-ahead goal.

Egged on by an enthusiastic drum-beating crowd braving unseasonably cold weather, China fought hard and, at the end of regular time, was rewarded by a tying goal by Han Duan on a corner kick.

[DJT]

From the CSA:

Women's World Cup Team

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

U.S. Women Defeat Canada 2-0

Ottawa, Ontario – Canada’s Women’s World Cup Team was defeated 2-0 by the United States on Tuesday, February 3rd, at the Four Nations Women’s Tournament in Shenzhen, China PR. Canada placed last in the tournament after losing all three games. The team will begin to return from China on Wednesday, February 4th.

This was Canada’s first match against the United States since the third place match at the 2003 Women’s World Cup in Carson, California on October 11th, 2003 to whom Canada lost 3-1.

Lindsey Tarpley scored first in the 13th minute after receiving a throw in from Shannon MacMillan. Tarpley rolled around Charmaine Hooper and sent the ball from four yards out through the legs of Canadian Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.

“The first half against the United States was even, both teams played with mutual respect and low pressure. Our defense slept on a simple throw in and allowed an easy goal early in the game. The slow start has been a tendency that will have to be addressed,” said head coach Even Pellerud.

The Americans scored their second goal in the 81st minute on a penalty taken by Joy Fawcett that sailed into the right corner past LeBlanc. The penalty came after Marie-Eve Nault tackled Abby Wambach before she could send a shot toward the net.

“In the second half, our players defended deeper and allowed the United States to have more possession. Our defense still had good control and the U.S. had few scoring opportunities. Abby Wambach was tackled on the end line and the penalty kick ended in a 2-0 win for the United States.”

“Our team didn’t win the tournament, but we certainly won tons of experience. These three hard fought games against the highest standard of competition will serve as the best possible preparation for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament.”

The United States won the Four Nations Women’s Tournament with a 2-0-1 record over host China (1-0-2), Sweden (1-1-1), and Canada (0-3-0).

Canada will begin their Olympic Qualifying on Thursday, February 26th against Jamaica in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Costa Rica.

Results

01/30/04 USA vs Sweden (3:0)

China PR vs Canada (2:1)

02/01/04 Sweden vs Canada (3:1)

China PR vs USA (0:0)

02/03/04 USA vs Canada (2:0)

China PR vs Sweden (2:2)

FOUR NATIONS FINAL STANDINGS

Team W L T PTS GF GA GD

USA 2 0 1 7 5 0 +5

CHN 1 0 2 5 4 3 +1

SWE 1 1 1 4 5 6 -1

CAN 0 3 0 0 2 7 -5

February 3, 2004 – Four Nation Women’s Tournament - China

Shenzhen Stadium - Shenzhen, China

Canada 0 (0)

USA 1 (2)

Goals: USA - Lindsay Tarpley (13); Joy Fawcett (81, PK)

Canada: CAN: 1-Karina LeBlanc; 2-Marie-Eve Nault (4-Sasha Andrews,

83); 5-Andrea Neil (7-Isabelle Morneau, 69); 6-Sharolta Nonen; 10-Charmaine Hooper; 11-Randee Hermus; 12-Christine Sinclair; 13-Diana Matheson; 14-Aysha Jamani (3-Carmelina Moscato, 79); 15-Veronique Maranda (17-Tanya Dennis, 79); 16-Brittany Timko (8-Isabelle Harvey, 83); Head Coach: Even Pellerud

Subs not used: 9-Rhian Wilkinson; 22-Erin McLeod; 22-Taryn Swiatek.

USA: 18-Siri Mullinix; 21-Heather Mitts; 14-Joy Fawcett; 29-Amy LePeilbet; 15-Kate Markgraf; 7-Shannon Boxx; 26-Leslie Osborne (19-Angela Hucles, 77); 11-Julie Foudy (20-Abby Wambach, 46);13-Kristine Lilly, 25-Lindsay Tarpley; 8-Shannon MacMillan (27-Heather O'Reilly, 69); Head Coach: April Heinrichs

Subs not used: 1-Briana Scurry; 2-Kylie Bivens; 3-Christie Rampone; 4-Cat Reddick; 5-Tiffany Roberts; 23-Lori Chalupny.

[DJT]

From the USSF:

U.S. Women Defeat Canada 2-0 to Win Four Nations Tournament in China

2/3/04 9:28 AM

SHENZHEN, China (Feb. 3, 2004) - The U.S. Women's National Team dominated Canada on a cold, wet afternoon at Shenzhen Stadium to record a 2-0 victory, which combined with China's 2-2 tie with Sweden, gave the USA the championship of the 2004 Four Nations Tournament. The USA did not allow a goal in the tournament, finishing with seven points from two wins and a tie, and won the competition for the second year in a row.

The weather turned sour for the first time during the USA's stay in China as a steady drizzle fell throughout the match and temperatures dropped into the low 40s, but that didn't stop the USA from putting together a classy performance, getting an early goal from 20-year-old Lindsay Tarpley and a late penalty kick from veteran Joy Fawcett after Abby Wambach had been chopped down from behind in the penalty area.

"The thing I'm most pleased about is that we got better every game," said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. "The American teams want to go forward, we attack aggressively and sometimes we lack patience. During the course of this tournament, we showed great patience in picking and choosing the point of attack and as a result we got behind Canada upwards of 20 times tonight. If you can convert that statistic to chances on goal, you're going to win games consistently."

The Four Nations Tournament served as a bit of a coming out party for Tarpley at the full international level. The captain of the USA's 2002 Under-19 World Championship Team was the tournament's leading scorer with three goals and started all three matches.

The first goal came in the 13th minute, oddly enough, directly off a throw-in from the right sideline. Shannon MacMillan took it quickly and threw the ball into the penalty area to the cutting Tarpley, who let the ball skip past her body while rolling around Canadian captain Charmaine Hooper. Tarpley then darted towards the near post and stuck her shot through the legs of goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and into the net from four yards out.

"The tournament was just a lot of fun," said Tarpley, who scored her first three goals at the senior level. "To play these three teams was a great learning experience for all the young players. The veterans have been great in helping us get adjusted to this level and it gives us confidence to know that we can help the team win in a tournament like this."

U.S. head coach April Heinrichs made four changes from the lineup that started the previous two games, giving goalkeeper Siri Mullinix the nod, but also giving first career starts to Heather Mitts at right back, to Leslie Osborne at right midfield and defender Amy LePeilbet, who played a stellar match in the middle of the defense with Fawcett.

"Amy LePeilbet's performance was outstanding," said Heinrichs of the defender's second cap. "She was very strong in the air, won almost every ball and has great recovery speed. The young players stepped into a pressure environment in some of their first appearances for the National Team and positively impacted our performance. Tarpley's three goals was a great performance for a young player She showed she could contribute with her passing as well."

Canada played in a 4-4-2 formation with star striker Christine Sinclair and 16-year-old Aysha Jamani up top, but both were outmatched in the air by the U.S. back line.

The USA came out in a 4-5-1 formation with Shannon MacMillan at the point, but gave attacking midfielder Tarpley more freedom to roam and she took advantage, running all over the field to link the team together in the attack.

Although the U.S. did dominate possession, neither team produced that many dangerous chances. In the 4th minute, a Tarpley pass off a good rhythm put MacMillan behind the defense, but Sharolta Nonen ran her down to snuff the shot.

In the 39th minute, a nice combination of passes led to an attack down left flank where Tarpley slipped a defender's tackle in the penalty area and sliced a hard cross on the ground that was met by a sliding Shannon Boxx, but her shot was blocked.

Both teams played low-pressure defense, but the USA's possession in midfield was far better as Canada was content to launch a stream of long balls that were won well by LePeilbet and Fawcett with assists from Markgraf and Mitts.

As they did against China, the USA did not allow a shot until the 34th minute, but Canada's first and only shot of the first half did not have much pace and scooted over the end line far from the net. The USA did well to drop and absorb the Canadian service, and Canada, despite some dangerous attacks, only managed one more shot in the second half. It was a good one, though, as Veronique Maranda spun a shot just past the left post in the 78th minute when it was still 1-0.

"One of our team goals was to have three shutouts and it's a real tribute to the six defenders and two goalkeepers we played," said Heinrichs. "They were very focused on limiting shots on goal, not giving up goals at crucial moments and staying concentrated, focused and compact in the back. If you want to win games consistently, you have to focus on shutouts."

Abby Wambach replaced Julie Foudy at halftime as the USA went to a 4-4-2 formation and the Americans took seven of their 10 shots after the break.

Early in the second half, MacMillan bent a dangerous ball behind defense from right side, but Wambach overran it and tried a "donkey kick." The ball actually hit her heel and caromed toward the goal, but rolled over the end line.

In the 56th minute, a U.S. corner kick was cleared and dropped to Tarpley at the top of the penalty area. She collected the ball on her chest and then cracked a dipping volley that was acrobatically saved by LeBlanc.

In the 72nd minute Wambach plowed forward on a great dribbling run after a nifty step-over move, but was closed down by two defenders and LeBlanc, who smothered the ball.

In the 75th minute the USA had a golden chance to increase the lead as Kristine Lilly played Markgraf down the left flank and she hit a looping cross. Wambach kept the ball alive by challenging LeBlanc, who batted the ball to the ground, and Heather O'Reilly kept it alive with a toe poke. The ball slipped to Wambach, but she launched the ball over the open net from eight yards out.

Markgraf, who had an excellent tournament at left back and hit numerous dangerous balls in the attack, created the clinching goal, sending a perfect pass to Wambach behind the left side of the Canadian defense in the 80th minute. Wambach cut hard toward goal and was about to shoot when Marie-Eve Nault cut her down. Referee Zhang Dong Qing immediately pointed to the penalty spot and veteran Joy Fawcett stepped up to coolly nail her kick into the right corner, freezing LeBlanc on the line. It was Fawcett's 27th international goal, still the most ever by a defender in U.S. history.

"Joy was once again remarkably consistent from the first five minutes of a game to the last five minutes and from the first game to the third game," said Heinrichs. "You don't toss aside good players just because of their age. You look at veteran players like Joy and see that she is focused, performing at a high level and giving us great leadership. The rest of the teams in the world would be lucky to have a player of her experience, sophistication and speed at the back."

Lilly, Fawcett and Markgraf were the only players to play all 360 minutes of the tournament. The USA will return to the United States tomorrow and then have a little more than a week off before heading to Costa Rica in preparation for the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament being held from Feb. 25-March 5. It will be the first ever trip to Central America for the U.S. women.

"If you are going to prepare for Olympic qualifying in such a short time, there is no better way than 13 days of training and 12 days in China with games against three of the best teams in the world," added Heinrichs.

In the Sweden-China match, Therese Sjogran opened the scoring in the 31st minute, bending a perfect shot from 19 yards off the right post and in. China tied it in the 38th minute off penalty kick from defender Li Jie. Sweden took the lead in the 82nd minute as substitute forward Josfine Osqvist broke free on a breakaway, rounded the 'keeper and slotted her shot home from 20 yards away. Sweden looked to have a 2-1 win sewed up, but China tied the game in the 90th minute as Han Duan finished a rebound of a rebound, roofing the ball in crowd from eight yards out much to the delight of the Chinese fans. That goal and the tie gave China second place in the tournament with five points. Sweden was third with four points and Canada finished last with zero points.

U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM GAME REPORT

Match-up: USA vs. Canada

Competition: 2004 Four Nations Tournament

Venue: Shenzhen Stadium; Shenzhen, China

Date: Feb. 3, 2004; Kickoff - 2:15 p.m. Local (1:15 a.m. ET)

Attendance: 1,000

Weather: Cold, rainy, wet - 42 degrees

Scoring Summary:

1 2 F

USA 1 1 2

CAN 0 0 0

USA - Lindsay Tarpley (Shannon MacMillan) 13th minute.

USA - Joy Fawcett (Penalty Kick) 81.

Lineups:

USA: 18-Siri Mullinix; 21-Heather Mitts, 14-Joy Fawcett, 29-Amy LePeilbet, 15-Kate Markgraf; 7-Shannon Boxx, 26-Leslie Osborne (19-Angela Hucles, 77), 11-Julie Foudy (20-Abby Wambach, 46), 13-Kristine Lilly, 25-Lindsay Tarpley, 8-Shannon MacMillan (27-Heather O'Reilly, 69).

Subs not used: 1-Briana Scurry, 2-Kylie Bivens, 3-Christie Rampone, 4-Cat Reddick, 5-Tiffany Roberts, 23-Lori Chalupny.

Head Coach: April Heinrichs

CAN: 1-Karina LeBlanc; 2-Marie-Eve Nault, 6-Sharolta Nonen, 10-Charmaine Hooper, 11-Randee Hermus; 5-Andrea Neil (7-Isabelle Morneau, 69), 13-Diana Matheson, 14-Aysha Jamani (3-Carmelina Moscato, 79), 15-Veronique Maranda (17-Tanya Dennis, 79), 16-Brittany Timko; 12-Christine Sinclair.

Subs not used: 4-Sasha Andrews, 8-Isaballe Harvey, 9-Rhian Wilkinson, 22-Erin McLeod, 22-Taryn Swiatek.

Head Coach: Even Pellerud

Statistical Summary:

USA / CAN

Shots: 10 / 2

Shots on Goal: 6 / 0

Saves: 0 / 4

Corner Kicks: 7 / 0

Misconduct Summary:

None

Officials:

Referee: Zhang Dong Qing (China)

Referee Asst.: Fu Hong Jue (China)

Referee Asst.: Deng Jun Xia (China)

4th Official: Jennifer Bennet (USA)

Chevrolet Woman of the Match: Joy Fawcett

FOUR NATIONS FINAL STANDINGS

Team W L T PTS GF GA GD

USA 2 0 1 7 5 0 +5

CHN 1 0 2 5 4 3 +1

SWE 1 1 1 4 5 6 -1

CAN 0 3 0 0 2 7 -5

FOUR NATIONS FINAL RESULTS

Friday, Jan. 30

China 2, Canada 1

USA 3, Sweden 0

Sunday, Feb. 1

China 0, USA 0

Sweden 3, Canada 1

Tuesday, Feb. 3

USA 2, Canada 0

China 2, Sweden 2

FOUR NATIONS FINAL SCORERS

Player (Team) Goals

Lindsay Tarpley (USA) 3

Therese Sjogran (SWE) 2

Shannon Boxx (USA) 1

Joy Fawcett (USA) 1

Teng Wei (CHN) 1

Bai Lili (CHN) 1

Li Jie (CHN) 1

Han Duan (CHN) 1

Veronique Maranda (CAN) 1

Christine Sinclair (CAN) 1

Malin Mostrom (SWE) 1

Victoria Svensson (SWE) 1

Josefine Oqvist (SWE) 1

[The Ref]

It is said that you need to lose games at first before you learn to play and can win. The thing is that we had already started to win and now seem to have gone back. Everybody else managed a win or a tie. We managed zippo. And when you only managed two shots at goal, it aint pretty. Excuses, well that we still have injured players, but so did Sweden and they did ok. U.S. sent some new girls and they did ok. I am begining to wonder if we need to start getting past this 'direct style' of Pellerud. It is time to start coaching these girls more a traditional passing style if the lack of it is what forces the coaches to use a questionable direct style.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by The Ref

. It is time to start coaching these girls more a traditional passing style if the lack of it is what forces the coaches to use a questionable direct style.

I wonder if they are capable of playing this kind of system. The skills that you are alluding are honed at such an early age that I wonder if its even possible to stray away from the redundant direct style. The lack of positive soccer role models may be a contributing factor

[Guest Ed]

Have you seen elite girls play? They are certainly more skilful at the elite level here in Calgary than evidenced by the style used by Even Pellerud. Rumour has it they are told to 'lose the Brazil' when they go to national team camps.

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Have you seen elite girls play? They are certainly more skilful at the elite level here in Calgary than evidenced by the style used by Even Pellerud. Rumour has it they are told to 'lose the Brazil' when they go to national team camps.

Is this really true? Not that I don't believe your word Ed, it is just hard to believe that girls are being told to 'lose the Brazil'. They are losing more than that, they are losing the whole game. Wouldn't you want to expand on the skills rather than curtail them? It is hard for me to understand. Is there a discrepancy between programs from the smallest Club to the National teams? Isn't there someone who has the right answers as to what should kids be coached and how to play the game ultimately?

[mtlfan]

quote:Originally posted by The Ref

It is said that you need to lose games at first before you learn to play and can win. The thing is that we had already started to win and now seem to have gone back. Everybody else managed a win or a tie. We managed zippo. And when you only managed two shots at goal, it aint pretty. Excuses, well that we still have injured players, but so did Sweden and they did ok. U.S. sent some new girls and they did ok......

While you mention the USA sent some new players and Sweden does have injuries but the nucleus of these teams are made up of seasoned veterans and the rookies are slowily integrated into the team. For example Tarpley and O'Reilly from the USA are only now getting some action.

Meanwhile Canada has Maranda (1986) and Jamani (1987) who haven't even finished high school are facing the world's best.

It's interesting to think that Timko and Lang are consisdered veterans.

When I look at the line-ups and see Nault, Wilkinson, Matheson, Andrews, Moscato, Sinclair, and Dennis along with the other four previuosly mentioned I have no qualms aabout Pellerud's strategy.

These are school girls that need time and experience to mature and with that they will be able to adapt to different playing styles.

While Hooper and Nonen can play with any team the rookies need many more years to grow-up.

[Auger9]

not to mention these teams were preparing all winter for this tournament and we had a couple days get-to-together.

[Chet]

I don't have a problem with the girls being told to 'lose the Brazil' at this level. You have to remember that the girls chosen for the national team camps are the cream of the crop from their local leagues. They are used to being the most dominant players on their teams and they're used to being among the most dominant players in all the leagues they play in.

Once you get to the international level, you suddenly have to adjust to playing with teammates and opponents who are all just as skilled, and usually far more experienced than you are (also bigger, stronger and more fit than what you're used to). You have to learn quickly that you can't just dribble the ball through the entire midfield all by yourself like you used to. If you hold onto the ball too long you'll get run over.

In that respect telling them to 'lose the Brazil' is not a bad message.

On the other hand, I do love that short passing style that the South American teams are famous for. As The Ref says, that's something Canadian players need to learn.

But that is a style that's more characteristic of the senior Brazilian men's teams. On the women's side, you don't see it so much. The Brazilian players have marvelous skills, but they often tend to overhandle the ball and try to do too much one-on-one. Remember, Brazil hasn't been terribly successful in women's play, in spite of some great individual talent.

I'd like to think that over time we will see more and more Canadian players arriving at the national camps with their ball skills already highly developed. Then it will be just a matter of teaching them not to over-rely on those skills and focus on sound tactics and teamwork. If we have to teach skills at the national team level, then we're already at a disadvantage.

[DJT]

What I don't like is that in the quote by Ian Bridge posted by The Ref last week he says all players at all levels are being taught to play the same Pellerud style. Some people argue that our players need time but I think what we're seeing is just what Pellerud wants and it won't change, not when players are being taught to play this way from a young age.