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The Week in Germany: Sports

February 2, 2007

Women's Soccer: US Ties with Germany, Tops China, to Win Four Nations Tournament

On the ball: German players (in red) keep their eyes on the prize during the Germany-US game that resulted in a scoreless 0-0 tie. Photo: dpa

The United States has emerged victorious in the Four Nations women's soccer tournament in southern China. The American women's soccer team beat China, 2-0, on Tuesday - a record fifth Four Nations title.

The US drew two games -1-1 against England and 0-0 versus Germany - before beating China. In another game on Tuesday, Germany and England drew 0-0 - the last of three 0-0 games Germany played in the tournament.

Both the German and American teams were missing key players who did not travel to China for the tournament. Among others, Germany played in China without striker Birgit Prinz, a three-time FIFA world player of the hub of Germany's offense. The Germans also lost Silke Rottenberg, perhaps the world's No. 1 keeper, with a knee injury sustained Saturday in practice.

The American team meanwhile was missing top forwards Kristine Lilly and Abby Wambach, who were being rested, as well as defender Christine Rampone and midfielder Aly Wagner.

The last time the Americans and Germans played, Germany won on penalties at the 2006 Algarve Cup in Portugal. Going into the Four Nations tournment last weekend, Germany was the defending World Cup champion, while the US team is a former two-time champion.

The Four Nations tournament has been billed as China's "tune-up" for the women's soccer World Cup, in which Germany is still a likely favorite, despite some irksome setbacks.

German Coach Silvia Neid expects her now injured goalie Silke Rottenberg to be out for six months, leaving little time to recover before the World Cup opener on Sept. 10.

“We said before this trip that the object wasn't to win but to see how our young players performed,” Neid said. “But having said that, we had 12 huge chances here and didn't score once.” (compiled from AP dispatches)

Links:

More on the tournament (Associated Press)

More about the US victory (Women's Soccer World)

German Sports Roundup (TWIG, Dec. 15, 2006 )

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