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Algarve Cup

U.S. Defeats Germany in Algarve Cup Championship

Alex Morgan scored two first-half goals to lead the United States over Germany and give head coach Tom Sermanni his first piece of hardware as the top American
BY Maura Gladys Posted
March 13, 2013
8:48 PM
After a tournament with new faces, new tactics, and new positions, the familiar talent of Alex Morgan brought home the Algarve Cup championship for the United States.

Thanks to two signature goals from the 23-year-old forward—strikes that showcased her speed, awareness, and finishing—the United States won the Algarve Cup tournament for the ninth time in tournament history.

U.S. coach Tom Sermanni made six changes to the team that drew with Sweden on Monday, rolling out a young midfield and offense that included Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Alex Morgan, and Sydney Leroux. Noticeably absent from the starting lineup was Abby Wambach, whose #ChasingMia campaign has been put on the back burner for the past three matches. Wambach came on in the 75th minute.

However, the U.S. wasn’t weakened by her absence in the championship game, with Morgan and Leroux up top. Morgan and Leroux teamed up on the United States first goal in the 13th minute when Leroux chased down a ball destined for the end line and swung a speculative cross into the German penalty box. German defender Josephine Henning headed the ball straight to Morgan who settled it and swung a beauty above German goalkeeper Almuth Schult.

Morgan doubled the lead in the 33th minute when she ran onto a ball Tobin Heath sent over the German defense. Schult and her defender both backed off the ball, allowing Morgan to swoop in and slot it home to an empty net. The U.S. also put up a strong defensive performance against a dangerous German side, who created several chances in the second half. Goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart had several great saves, and was aggressive in the box, coming out to collect several German crosses. Defenders Kelley O’Hara and Ali Kreiger also made key plays in the back to snuff out Germany’s attack. The win is the first major tournament win for U.S coach Tom Sermanni who is 5-0-1 on the year thus far. The U.S. will play a re-match against Germany on April 5th in Germany. Maura Gladys, a featured ASN columnist, works in production for KICKTV. She also runs the goalkeeping blog All You Need Is Glove.

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