Brazil Needs Some Work On Its Set Piece Defense

The U.S. women's national team took care of business this morning in Japan as they beat Brazil 3-0 in the second and final game of the Kirin Challenge Cup.

Brazil was very shorthanded as the iconic Marta sat out (why I don't know). They didn't help themselves as they gave up two early goals in the first half then the U.S. tacked on another in the second half for a comfortable win.

All three U.S. goals came on set pieces, although only one was clean. In the 18th minute, Christie Rampone sent a free kick into the box that was deflected off Rachel Buehler's heel right to Carli Lloyd. She's not usually accurate when she shoots but Lloyd didn't miss on that one.

Five minutes later, Lauren Cheney hit a cross off a free kick that Shannon Boxx headed in.

Substitute Amy Rodriguez scored in the 83rd minute on a similar play to the Lloyd strike. Cheney's free kick was knocked down by Abby Wambach then Rodriguez pounced on the rebound which took a deflection off a Brazilian defender.

American goalkeeper Hope Solo had a quiet game as she only had to make one save for the shutout.

The U.S.' next game is Saturday, May 27 (Memorial Day weekend) against China in Chester, PA. It's a friendly but against more top-level competition.

Pia Sundhage's team improved to 10-1-1 in 2012 as they beat Brazil in their first meeting since last summer's memorable World Cup encounter. Nine Brazilians and 13 Americans saw the field today that also appeared in that one.

This margin of defeat was the largest for the U.S. against Brazil in 10 games (5-1 in 2004). Unlike their male counterparts, the U.S. women first of all will appear in the 2012 London Olympics plus they will undoubtedly be considered one of the favorites.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

U.S. Women Salvage A Tie Against Their Toughest Rival-Japan-In Kirin Challenge Cup

Well the U.S. women's national team have more than met their match in Japan. The U.S. is 0-2-1 in its last three contests against the 2011 Women's World Cup winners.

At least yesterday in the first game of the Kirin Challenge Cup in Sendai, Japan, the U.S. was able to tie Japan, 1-1. That sure beats a loss, especially because the U.S. rallied in the second half from a 1-0 deficit.

Japan went up 1-0 in the 32nd minute thanks to a defensive breakdown by the U.S. and a nice passing sequence by the hosts. Yukari Kinga got a chipped through ball and her first shot was saved by U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo. However, Kinga was able to get to the rebound before a few American defenders and she made it 1-0.

Alex Morgan scored her sixth goal in eight games (12th in 2012 and 10th since she became a starter vs. Canada in January) to tie it at 1 in the 73rd minute. It was controversial since at first, the refs called it off but then in true bush league fashion they ruled it was good seconds later. Weird stuff but they made the right call which is what matters.

Carli Lloyd had the ball taken away from her-so it wasn't a pass-plus it went off a Japan defender to Morgan. Finally, Morgan wasn't offside anyways.

The U.S. women will get a crack at their other biggest rival tomorrow as they face Brazil at 7 a.m. EST on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com in Chiba, Japan in another Kirin Challenge Cup game. Fans can also follow along on ussoccer.com's matchtracker and on their Twitter account: @ussoccer_wnt

Yesterday was the first draw of 2012 for the Americans who are 9-1-1. Both the loss and tie have come against Japan. The USA has now failed to beat Japan in three consecutive games, a rare feat for a U.S. opponent, but one Japan accomplished in three consecutive meetings with the USA between 2000-2004 when the teams tied three times.

The meeting on Tuesday with Brazil will be the first between the teams since the historic quarterfinal at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in which Abby Wambach scored the latest goal in World Cup history to tie the score and the Americans went on to win in a dramatic penalty kick shootout.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

U.S. Women Will Play Japan & Brazil In April Tournament, In Japan

What a day for U.S. soccer. On the heels of the U.S. men's date with Brazil being officially announced this afternoon, I just found out that the U.S. women will face not only Japan but also Brazil in a three day span in April.

For Pia Sundhage's team, it's all part of the Women's Kirin Challenge Cup which will take place in Japan. The U.S. will get tasty rematches from the 2011 World Cup against the team they lost to in the final (Japan) in penalty kicks and the team they beat in the quarterfinals (Brazil) that featured one of the best endings I've ever seen in a soccer game.

The U.S. women will play Japan on April 1 at Yurtec Stadium in Sendai and Brazil on April 3 at Fukuda Denshi Arena in Chiba.

For the U.S. soccer press release:
In the newly created three-nation tournament, named the Women’s Kirin Challenge Cup, Japan will also face Brazil April 5 at Homes Stadium in Kobe. The three-team competition features three of the top four teams in the current FIFA Women’s World Rankings.

“This trip is fantastic,” said U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage. “Playing two of the world’s best teams almost back-to-back will be a tremendous challenge for our entire roster. Obviously, we are very familiar with both Japan and Brazil, and we have the ultimate respect for their coaches, their players and the technical and tactical abilities of both teams. There are no better games to prepare you for Olympic competition than facing this caliber of teams away from home.”

The match in Sendai will be the second meeting between the two Women’s World Cup finalists since that tournament, as the teams will also meet on March 5 during group play at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.

Sendai, located on the east coast of northern Japan, suffered catastrophic damage from the magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake on March 11, 2011 (just nine days after the USA had played Japan in the 2011 Algarve Cup), which triggered a massive, destructive tsunami. Yurtec Stadium, which was built in 1997 and seats 20,000, was damaged in the earthquake and tsunami.

Chiba, which is a large suburb of Tokyo, is located near the east coast of central Japan. Fukuda Denshi Arena, which was completed in 2005, seats 18,500.

Of course, the USA’s most recent meeting with Brazil was one for the ages. The USA weathered a controversial ejection and played more than an hour of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal with 10 players before dramatically tying the score in the 122nd minute on Abby Wambach’s now famous header goal, the latest ever scored in a World Cup.

The U.S. women will play New Zealand next Saturday (Feb. 11) at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas. That game will be streamed live on ussoccer.com at 4 EST. That's the start of a busy couple weeks for Sundhage and Co. as they'll head to Portugal for the annual Algrave Cup. The U.S. will play Denmark (Feb. 29), Norway (March 2) and Japan (March 5) in Group B play.

So yeah, get ready to see plenty of the U.S. men and women's national teams as the weather starts to get better and spring is in the air which means one thing to me: time for some high level soccer for both of our squads.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate