New Coaches and New Keepers for 2013 Algarve Cup

New Coaches and New Keepers for 2013 Algarve Cup

by Kara McDermott

The Algarve Cup kicks off next Wednesday in south Portugal for the US Women’s National Team and several of their high-ranked rivals.

With the first game streaming deal falling through, American fans will be able to watch games only on pay-per-view. However, Prost Amerika will be on the ground at the tournament to cover matches, provide interviews and to examine some of the ways the Algarve Cup will affect the coming year in women’s soccer.

This oft over-looked invitational tournament features the best teams in the world and is unique from its counterparts in a number of ways. First of all, it can be considered a truly women’s tournament as it does not field a senior men’s side (though there is a Cup for U-17 men).

Also, bucking conventional systems, the Algarve Cup is built on three groups of four teams. However, only Group A and Group B play for the championship. Group C competes for 7-11th places. This is a tournament where every goal and every win has a very real effect on the outcome of the tournament, the structure of which reads something like a Florida chad ballot:

Championship Group A winner vs. Group B winner
3rd Place Game: Group A vs. Group B second-place finishers
5th Place Game: Group A vs. Group B third-place finishers
7th Place Game: Group C winner vs. the higher ranked of the fourth-place Group A or B finisher
9th Place Game: Group C second-place finisher vs. lower ranked of the fourth-place Group A or B finisher
11th place: Lowest finishers of Group C

The US has been placed in Group B with strong competition from Sweden, China and Iceland. Group A likewise has plenty of weight to throw around with Japan, Germany, Norway and Denmark.

Tom Sermanni’s Competitive Debut

This will be the first competitive play with new coach Tom Sermanni at the helm. The Scotsman and long-time coach of the Australian women’s team officially took his post at the first of the year following Pia Sundhage’s resignation after the Olympics.

Sundhage returned to her native Sweden to take over the women’s team. The US with Sermanni will face the Swedes in their final group match of the Algarve on March 11 in what will likely be the toughest match for the Americans.

Sermanni is coming from a long tenure with the Australian Women’s National Team where he has helped them rise to more prominence on the world stage, including showing off a tenacious and scrappy style at the last World Cup.

Rise of the Goalkeepers

One of Sermanni’s first lineup challenges will be replacing starting goalkeeper Hope Solo, who will be out of the tournament for surgery on ligaments in her left hand.

The long-time number-two goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart is the obvious choice to replace her, and has excelled in this situation before. In 2011, Barnhart was called up to the starting position of the Algarve Cup when Solo needed shoulder surgery. Barnhart bolstered the team’s backline on their way to ultimate victory, allowing only three goals in the tournament while her teammates scored 12.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of talent in the wings. Jill Loyden and Ashlyn Harris have also been named to the squad flying to Portugal. Loyden has been on the scene since 2010 with five caps to her credit.

The real newcomer though is Ashlyn Harris, a product of the national youth program who has been seriously training with the senior group since 2011. She is so far un-capped, but has the opportunity in this tournament of making a statement about her future with the national squad.

Summer in Europe

The Algarve will welcome five teams in preparation for the European Championship July: Sweden (who is hosting this year), Denmark, Germany, Iceland and Norway.

Oddly enough there is no group play match-up overlap between the Algarve and the Euros, meaning none of these five teams will play each other in group play in both the Algarve and Euros.

Germany has effectively dominated the Euros, winning seven out of ten tournaments and not giving up that top spot since 1993. Sweden and Norway are the only other two teams to win the tournament, the former in 1984 and the latter in 1987 and 1993.

Iceland is new to the mix. The team has played in the last two Euros, but has not yet qualified for a World Cup or Olympics tournament. The tough tests they will face at the Algarve should allow opportunity to train and tune the squad for the competitive summer ahead.

Countdown to NWSL

Closer to home, the Algarve will also serve as a useful preview of the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Of the 23-player roster Sermanni has released, only four players are not currently slotted to play in the new professional league.

The Northwest will be represented on the US team mostly by the Portland Thorns FC, who are sending three players: defender Rachel Buehler, outside midfielder Tobin Heath and forward Alex Morgan.

For Buehler, this will be an especially significant tournament. She made her debut for the national team during the 2008 Algarve Cup and is currently sitting on 99 caps for the USWNT. If she takes the field for this tournament, and it seems very likely she will, she will become only the 29th player in USWNT history to reach 100 caps.

With Solo out, Seattle Reign FC will just have midfielder Megan Rapinoe competing for the championship. However, Seattle will have connections in Group C. Jenny Ruiz and recent addition Teresa Noyola will be representing Mexico and Jess Fishlock will be playing for Wales.

All groups play on the same days. The US will begin their campaign on March 6 against Iceland at 6:00 a.m. PST. Also in their group, Sweden will play China. The match-ups from Group A are Japan versus Norway and Denmark versus Germany. Mexico will play Hungary in Group C.

Tournament play will continue on Friday March 8 and Monday March 11. The tournament will close the final round on Wednesday March 13.