SB Nation Arizona - U.S. Ties Sweden 1-1 Off Deflected Morgan Shot, Heath Finishhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46593/arizona-fave.png2011-11-19T22:09:37-07:00http://arizona.sbnation.com/rss/stream/23362422011-11-19T22:09:37-07:002011-11-19T22:09:37-07:00U.S Women Slow To Break Swedish Defense, Settle For 1-1 Tie
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/united-states">United States</a> Women's National Team played an exciting game in front of a record crowd of 18,482 fans at University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix Saturday night. Their opponent, Sweden, is the third-ranked team in the world and finished with a bronze at World Cup in Germany this summer. But only four players from that team started in Glendale and the best the American women could do was a 1-1 tie and it took a late equalizer to avoid the loss.</p>
<p>"I know that every single player on our side is disappointed to go away with a tie. We don't want a tie. That's not what we come here to do. We come here to win games," forward Abby Wambach said after the game.</p>
<p>Wambach started the game and played until the 74th minute when young star Alex Morgan came in off the bench and once again, provided an immediate offensive spark. Morgan was able to use her speed and skill on the ball to immediately create chances, including a shot off the far post the rebounded right back to the Swedish keeper. </p>
<p>It was Morgan who again was able to beat the defense and rocketed a shot from just inside the box that Swedish keeper Kristin Hammarstrom deflected to an open Tobin Health for the equalizing goal (81'). </p>
<p>Why does Morgan who has so much speed and quality ride the bench for 74 minutes? According to her coach, Morgan's role on the team is to do just one thing and she couldn't do that playing 90 minutes.</p>
<p>"That is the reason why (Morgan) is so good. She's coming off the bench. She has a small role. She plays it well. She understands it, and respects it and the team does as well," head coach Pia Sundhage said about Morgan's limited playing time.</p>
<p>"It was a small role and she played it perfectly...It won't work for 90 minutes."</p>
<p>The U.S. were clearly a different and better team with Morgan on in the final 16 minutes. They generated numerous chances and dominated the game. According to Heath, who came on in the second half for Amy Rodriguez, with another five minutes the U.S. would have likely taken the lead.</p>
<p>"That's just what Pia thinks suits me best right now and suits this team best. Hopefully, I will be a 90 minute player sometime in the future," Morgan said about her role.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if Sundhage continues to use her most dynamic player, Morgan, off the bench during the Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver in January. </p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/sweden">Sweden </a>got on the board at the 28 minute mark with a beautiful shot from just outside the box from Sofia Jakobsson. Jakobsson received the ball after a throw in and created enough space moving to her right to get the shot off. The ball bent perfectly over the head of keeper Nicole Barnhart and into the upper corner of the far post. </p>
<p>The U.S. out-shot Sweden 19-6 and had numerous chances that rattled wood or just missed the frame. For a team still adjusting to a new system, the Americans can be pleased that easily could have come away with the victory but at the same time, they can't continue to rely on late goals to save them.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/2011/11/19/2574583/us-women-national-soccer-team-swedenSeth Pollack2011-11-18T16:26:42-07:002011-11-18T16:26:42-07:00U.S. Women's Soccer: Pia Sundhage Announces Starters Vs. Sweden; Lauren Cheney Takes Center Stage
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>The United States Women's National Team held a free, open-to-the-public training session at University of Phoenix Stadium on Friday. It was their final practice before facing a very good Swedish team Saturday night at 7 p.m. The team worked through a variety of drills for 90 minutes before head coach Pia Sundhage thanked the crowd and some players signed autographs.</p>
<p>Sundhage said she was 99 percent certain what the 18-player roster would look like coming out of two weeks of training camp with 30 players. She did announce the following starting line up for the game on Saturday:</p>
<p>Nicole Barnhart (GK), Rachel Buehler (D), Christie Rampone (D), Becky Sauerbrunn (D), Ali Krieger (D), Carli Lloyd (M), Shannon Boxx (M), Heather O'Reilly (M), Amy Rodriguez (M), Lauren Cheney (M), Abby Wambach (F).</p>
<p><b>[Update, 11/18/11 4:44 PM MST ]</b></p>
<p><a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/Social/WNT-Blog.aspx?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&UID=d64c9a0e-f4da-40cf-ab0a-d80aab1b0a00&plckPostId=Blog:d64c9a0e-f4da-40cf-ab0a-d80aab1b0a00Post:b3f6dcc6-2d17-458b-abb2-8e1e2c8ea467&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest" target="_blank">18-player roster announced</a></p>
<p><b>Lineup notes:</b></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Star goalkeeper Hope Solo missed this camp session due to her appearance on Dancing with the Stars.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">ASU product, Amy LePeilbet got the majority of starts on the left side of the back line during the World Cup, will start on the bench.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">With six substitutes available, it's likely all will play.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Sundhage did say that Rampone is a slight question mark due to injury.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Megan Rapinoe is ruled out with a minor knee sprain.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Sweden the perfect test for the new system</b></p>
<p>"We really need answers with the system and the more minutes we have together with that system, the better," Sundhage said about the goal for her team going into the game.</p>
<p>The 4-2-3-1 that the U.S. started running after the World Cup is designed keep more possession through the midfield and vary the attack according to Lauren Cheney who's role as the central attacking midfielder is magnified in this style of play.</p>
<p>"I think it's fun. It's exciting to play something that I get to run the attack and start it with everything coming through me," Cheney said Friday.</p>
<p>"It is about winning and scoring goals for us. I think defensively we've shown that we're solid. I think that we've had arguably the best back line in the world for awhile now and I think we have the three best goalies in the world."</p>
<p>Cheney feels the U.S. team can, however, be critiqued for being predictable on offense, relying too much on Abby Wambach's ability through the air on corners and crosses. This new system puts more emphasis on creativity and possession.</p>
<p>The team came out of the World Cup unhappy with their play against France (a game they won) and pleased with how they played against Japan (a game they lost) based on how well they were able to control possession in both games. They want to dominate the ball like they did against Japan.</p>
<p>In the end, this change of system is about leveraging the skill of certain players (like Cheney) but it's also recognition that the other teams around the world are catching up to the American's athletic dominance. Sundhage is clearly looking to move her team to be more technical, possession-oriented and dynamic in the attack.</p>
<p>Saturday's game versus Sweden will be a great opportunity to see how that looks. The U.S. played the 4-2-3-1 in the two games right after the World Cup against Canada but hadn't had time to train with it. Now after two full weeks and those Canada games under their belts, they should be much more prepared to evaluate where things stand and Sweden is the perfect opponent for that test.</p>
<p>"Sweden doesn't have a lot of weakness. They're good at almost every part of the game. They're physical, they're tactical, they're technical," striker Abby Wambach said.</p>
<p>Over 16,000 tickets have been sold for the match despite being up against the ASU vs. UA Territorial Bowl football game in Tempe which is also Saturday evening. We would imagine an even larger crowd would be at UoP on Saturday if not for the unfortunate scheduling conflict. We're certain more local media would be there. </p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/2011/11/18/2572221/u-s-womens-soccer-pia-sundhage-announces-starters-vs-sweden-laurenSeth Pollack2011-11-18T06:00:56-07:002011-11-18T06:00:56-07:00U.S. Women's Soccer Team Faces Sweden Saturday At UOP Stadium
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P6ofBQ524D9vVwaMjMr-870A4J4=/0x26:400x293/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47828097/large_arizona.sbnation.com.minimal.0.png" />
</figure>
<p>The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team is in Arizona training as they prepare for their Olympic qualifying tournament in January. They play an international friendly on Saturday against Sweden in Glendale.</p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/united-states">United States</a> Women's National team returns to Phoenix on Saturday for their first game in Arizona since 2000 to face Sweden on Saturday evening at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. The USWNT is finishing two weeks of training camp in the Phoenix area in preparation for their Olympic qualifying tournament held January 19-29 in Vancouver.</p>
<p>All 21 members of the U.S. Women's team that captured that nation's attention with a brilliant World Cup run this summer are in Arizona although star goal keeper Hope Solo has been excused so she can participate in ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Solo was eliminated from that competition this week but won't play Saturday although she's expected to attend the game.</p>
<p>Over 14,00 tickets have been sold for the match which is a record for a women's soccer game in Arizona. The game won't be televised but will steam live (free) on USSoccer.com with a 7 p.m. local start time.</p>
<p>Sweden is ranked fifth in the world by FIFA and beat <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/france">France</a> to win the Bronze at the 2011 World Cup in <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/germany">Germany</a>. The U.S. lost to <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/fifa/teams/japan">Japan</a> in a heartbreaking defeat and earned Silver. The team advanced to the championship game thanks to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO4KzoitJ-M" target="_blank">this last second spectacular overtime goal </a>against Brazil in the semi-finals only to lose an overtime lead to Japan and fall in penalty kicks.</p>
<p><b>Formation changes and roster competition</b></p>
<p>U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage said her team arrived at training camp in good shape after six weeks off and the team is ready to begin the Olympic qualifying process. The friendly match with Sweden is a good opportunity to both experiment with some different player combinations and refine the team's new 4-2-3-1 formation ahead of that crucial tournament.</p>
<p>The Americans typically played a 4-4-2 formation but coming off the World Cup, Sundhage wanted to change things up.</p>
<p>"I think it was important after that World Cup to make some changes, but the change can't be too big because we played well. I wanted to challenge myself, the coaching staff, but also the players by changing the system," Sundhage said after the team finished a morning training session on Thursday. </p>
<p>So far the players have embraced the new system but there's still kinks to work out. Since the change, the U.S. played a set of games against Canada with one tie (1-1) and a 3-0 win. </p>
<p>"I would say the number 10 spot, we emphasize that right now and we will add the outside backs going forward as well...Against Sweden, when there's a turnover, defending, that will be very interesting to see how we can deal with that because they do have some good players up top. So, this game will give us some answers and we're just at the beginning at the process."</p>
<p>Sundhage did say the team could always go back to the 4-4-2 if things aren't working out. It's also possible that the team might switch mid-game if they bring striker Alex Morgan in off the bench to provide a new look and generate different kinds of runs.</p>
<p>The combination of Morgan and Abby Wambach is very dangerous as we've seen in the World Cup but at the same time in the new formation with Wambach as the lone striker Sundhage can get the most out of the speedy Amy Rodriguez and the play-making of Megan Rapinoe in the attacking mid-field positions. </p>
<p>Coming off such a strong performance in the World Cup with a 21-player roster it will be difficult for any new players to make the team. Two names that Sundhage mentioned as standouts from the young players included in the 30 invited to camp were Ingrid Wells from Georgetown and Sydney Leroux who plays for UCLA but is a Phoenix native.</p>
<p>Wells is described as a very technical player who brings a lot of energy. Her inclusion at the camp was meant to send a message about the importance of developing highly technical skills. Leroux is a competitive forward who scores goals at the college level. It's possible that one of those two or perhaps a different new player makes the squad in an effort to change up the team dynamic.</p>
<p>In Saturday's friendly, each team will be allowed six substitutions so we can expect to see all the usual suspects (except for Solo) starting the game but Pia will use her bench generously, "The starting lineup, we need some answers, but most likely we will play all six off the bench. We want to give them a chance, even if it's just 10 minutes."</p>
<p>Former ASU soccer star Amy LePeilbet started, normally a center back, started on the left side of the back line in the World Cup and likely will stay in that role with the team moving forward.</p>
https://arizona.sbnation.com/2011/11/18/2570149/u-s-womens-soccer-team-sweden-saturday-uop-stadiumSeth Pollack