After the second day of matches, the players had two days to prepare for their third and final match of group play. Ian and I tried to attend as many training sessions as we could. It is very interesting to see how much the teams differ in training style. Some countries are about to start their league play while others are in the middle of their season, but they all seem to have a distinct style.
I also had a chance to spend some time on Saturday with my old Swedish teammates from my days at Malmö. I had the privilege of playing with seven of the present Sweden National Team members. The majority of the Swedish players here I have either played with or against. They were given a day off from training so we went down to the beach to hang out in the sun. The weather was very nice but the water still a bit too cold for a swim.
On Monday, I was able to get a ride with some of the Swedish Coaches to the Sweden – Germany game, which was being played at the Spanish border. Ian went in the other direction to see Denmark – Finland, which also kicked off around 1:15. The Swedes actually came out strong with a better defensive plan than in previous games and that enabled them to steer the Germans to one side and cut off their penetrating passes. They looked a lot better on the offensive end as well, changing the point of attack a little quicker which gave them a few good opportunities early in the match.
The Germans were having trouble generating any offense but were able to play a penetrating ball behind the Swedish back line to a striker running on. The German striker played the ball over a sliding Swedish keeper to score the first goal of the match. The Swedes seemed to lose their momentum and went into the locker room at halftime down 1-0.
Sweden came out strong in the second half and had an opportunity to equalize. The German keeper rolled a ball out and the center back took a bad touch. A Swedish midfielder was able to win the ball and dribble in on goal but shot it wide. Two minutes later, the Germans were able to strike again in transition. A German player sent a 40-yard ball along the ground that the forward dummied and the pass found the left midfielder, who was able to take a touch around the Swedish keeper. The keeper missed the ball but took a piece of the player resulting in a foul and Germany scored the penalty kick. The match ended 2-0. The Germans looked a lot better today than when I saw them against Denmark, but still far from their World Cup form.
On the way home from the match we stopped at another arena to see the second set of matches between China and Italy. Since the games were so spread out, I was only able to make it to the second half and Italy was already up 1-0 when I arrived and seemed to have the match in hand. Ian watched USA – Norway, which was being played in the same vicinity as the Denmark – Finland match. I was actually impressed by the way the Italians played and thought they were very well organized defensively. China continued to struggle like they have the whole tournament. They have very good individual players, but struggle to piece anything together as a unit. The Italians were very technical and had the ability to both possess and play direct. Italy scored a very nice goal in the second half to make the score 2-0 and that is also how the gamed ended.
USA beat Norway 4-0 which puts them in the first-place match against Denmark on Wednesday. The third-place match will be played between Germany – Denmark. The fifth-place game will be Sweden – Italy and the seventh-place game will be Finland – Iceland. The final two matches will be China – Portugal for ninth place and Poland – Ireland for 11th place.
Unfortunately, Ian and I will be returning to the United States and won’t be able to see the final day of matches. Come back soon for more Coaches’ Corner editions in the future.
- Denise
The weather has improved dramatically since the first day we arrived. The wind has died down during the day and the the sun is ever present. I actually had to break out the sun block today and not just for Ian's sake. The second day of matches started with Sweden – Denmark. We had plenty of time to find the stadium and being we had already been there before it was a piece of cake. Well I guess you can say it was easy for Ian who has now taken over the driving responsibilities. I am not sure if it was because of my driving but I think he quickly realized that I was not a very good map reader either.
The Sweden – Denmark game was very disappointing. It lacked speed, pressure on the ball, passing, and organization. Both teams seemed to play low pressure without ever putting any pressure on the ball. They let the ball shift from side to side and worked so much while on defense that they had little explosiveness when they finally won possession. Denmark was able to take the lead on a cross from their right side that found a player wide open on the back post. Sweden failed to put pressure on the cross and failed to mark up in the box resulting in a goal. The halftime score and final score was 1-0 to Denmark. Denmark is now through to the first place match.
We left the Sweden – Denmark match with about 10 minutes to go so we could make the Norway – China match that was being played at another stadium about 30 minutes away. I do not understand why they spread out all the games here it is not like they are drawing Portuguese fans. The majority of spectators are coaches and parents who would benefit if all the games were played at the same location. As it is now we have to come up with a strategy in order to see two matches on the same day. Needless to say we found the stadium but not the parking lot for the stadium so we were forced to walk a bit down this big hill past horses that were either roaming wild or tied by a rope. The good thing was we were able to burn off some extra calories. It is not very easy to find healthy food in Portugal.
The Norway – China match had a little more pace then the matches we have seen so far. There was much more movement off the ball and the quality of passing was a little better than it has been in this tournament. Norway was able to take the lead in the first half 1-0. China came out strong in the second and scored a top class header off a service to equalize the match. Norway regained the lead 2-1 and after stopping a few chances by China were able to secure the game with a third goal. The match ended 3-1 which means the winner of Norway – USA on Monday will determine who will play Denmark in the first place match. I am already looking forward to seeing this match.
Welcome to the first-ever Sky Blue Coaches' Corner post! Greetings from Portugal where Ian Sawyers and I are here for the Algarve Cup. If you haven't heard, Ian was just hired as the head coach for our Sky Blue professional team.
After an all night flight filled with turbulence we landed a little after 8.00am in Lisbon Portugal with no time to spare. We wanted to catch the first set of matches, Germany vs. Denmark that was set to kick off at 1.30. By the time we received our bags and found the car rental place it was getting closer to 10.00. We were informed that it would take a little more than three hours to get to the stadium and being I had no idea where it was I started to stress. Ian informed me I was the driver for the day which I think he then regretted. Being that I was not able to sleep much on the flight I loaded up with caffeine so I would be able to survive the day. I guess he was thinking he was going to be able to catch up on a little sleep while I drove but there was definitely no shut eye. I could tell by the way he was holding onto the dash board that he was not very comfortable with 'Jersey' girl at the wheel. Needless to say we made it to the stadium with plenty of time to spare.
Germany came out with most of their starters from their World Cup Championship Team but they were no where near championship form. Denmark played a very smart match against the Germans and were able to establish possession in the mid field and in Germany's defensive third. Germany struggled to put together passes especially in the final third and did not test the Danish keeper in the first half. The half ended 0-0. Germany did not make any tactical adjustments in the second half and Denmark finally capitalized 1-0. The Germans were able to put pressure on Denmark for the last 15 minutes but the Danes were able to hold them off.
Time to get back in the car for another find the stadium adventure. We had about 45 minutes drive to Lagos where the Finland – Sweden match was to be played. We had a little trouble finding the stadium and lets just say thank god they have round abouts in Europe so you can take a few laps before you need to decide which way to go. We only missed the first fifteen minutes of the game which lacked speed and good technical. Both teams to looked to play long with neither ever establishing any kind of possession. Sweden were able to take a 2-0 lead at half time. The second half looked a lot like the first but Finland were able to cut the lead to 2-1 off a corner. Sweden scored with about 10 minutes remaining to solidify the win.
Check back soon for more from the Algarve after the next round of games.
- Denise
Welcome to the Sky Blue Coaches' Corner! Here's your chance to get the inside scoop from the Sky Blue coaching staff. We're proud to introduce our Coaches' Corner with a debut post from Denise Reddy at the Algarve Cup. Check back for more!