U.S. routs Portugal in Algarve Cup

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U.S. routs Portugal in Algarve Cup

March 12, 2000
SportsLine.com wire reports

ALBUFEIRA, Portugal -- Cindy Parlow scored three goals as the United States routed Portugal 7-0 Sunday in the first round of the Algarve Cup international women's soccer tournament.

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Algarve Cup 2000 schedule/results
T O P N E W S

Joy Fawcett, Tisha Venturini, Shannon McMillan and Julie Foudy also scored for the defending World Cup champions.

"It's great to start off such a high-quality tournament with a game like this, especially coming back from my injury," said Parlow, who upped her career international goal total to 29 in her first game of 2000 after recovering from a hamstring pull. "With a new formation and some players in different positions, it builds confidence for the whole team."

The match was delayed 75 minutes because of heavy rains and eventually moved, from Francisco Viera Stadium in Silves to the U.S. training site. As much as three inches of standing water soaked the stadium field, promoting the Norwegian officiating crew to deem the field unplayable and move the game.

The delay didn't bother the Americans, who scored three goals in a six-minute span during the game's first 12 minutes.

The seven-goal margin was the biggest ever for the United States in the prestigious tournament, which the Americans haven't won in five attempts.

Coach April Heinrichs saw some value from the rout.


Christie Welsh and the U.S. have no problems against Portugal on Sunday.(AP)

"Games offer a different kind of pressure than training, especially in some of the tackling," said Heinrichs. "Every now and then it's good to have a game like this to establish some possession and get our legs under us."

The Americans next play Tuesday against Denmark, the team they beat in the World Cup opener last year. The final opening-round game for the United States is against Sweden on Thursday. If the Americans win their group, they advance to the final on Saturday.

In the other Group A game, Sweden beat Denmark 1-0.

In Group B, Sun Wen scored twice as China, which beat the United States last year in the Algarve Cup final, but lost to the U.S. team in the World Cup final, beat Canada 4-0. In the other Group B game, Norway beat Finland 2-0.