Algarve Cup Update

The U.S. women defeated Norway 2-0 behind goals from Lindsay Tarpley and Carli Lloyd to improve to 2-0 atop Group A in the 2011 Algarve Cup. The United States opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Japan on Wednesday with goals by Amy Rodriguez and Megan Rapinoe. The U.S. wraps up group play on Monday against Finland, who is winless in their first two games.

Photo Courtesy: chicagolandsoccernews.com

Here's a list of the results from the first two rounds of play:

Group A
United States 2 Japan 1
Norway 2 Finland 1
United States 2 Norway 0
Japan 5 Finland 0

Group B

Iceland 2 Sweden 1
Denmark 1 China PR 0
Iceland 2 China PR 1
Sweden 3 Denmark 1

Group C

Romania 2 Chile 0
Portugal 3 Wales 1
Portugal 0 Chile 0
Wales 2 Romania 1

The winners of groups A and B will play for first place, the second place teams from A and B for third, and the third place teams from A and B for fifth. The winner of Group C takes on the better of the two fourth place finishers for seventh, while the second place team from Group C take on the other fourth place finisher for ninth. Finally, the bottom two teams in Group C play each other for eleventh.

The United States women have made the last 8 Algarve Cup finals, winning the event 6 times, including in 2010. Their only two losses during that stretch came via shootout to Germany in 2006 and Sweden in 2009.