With the men’s team having recently qualified for this summer’s Olympics, it is time we turn our attention to our women’s team and support them as they begin their own qualifying campaign later this week. The women’s team has traveled to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico where they will battle, in a very difficult environment, to qualify for Beijing. Their first game is April 4th vs Jamaica at 7.30pm PST before taking on rivals Mexico on April 6th.  Good luck ladies!

Abby Wambach scored her 88th international goal in the 49th minute, giving the Algarve Cup once again to the American women ahead of the all important 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Mexico.

The impressive Americans also saw Natashe Kei put her name on the scorers sheet as Pia Sundhage’s women beat Denmark 2-1 in a rematch of last years final (US 2-0). Those two goals took the offensive tally to 12 for the tournament and saw a much improved team showing than the one seen last summer.

Final Standings

1. USA (2-1) win over Denmark

2. Denmark

3. Norway (2-0) win over Germany

4. Germany

5. Sweden (2-0) win over Italy

6. Italy

7. Iceland (3-0) win over Finland

8. Finland

9. China (1-1) 5-4 pk win over Portugal

10. Portugal

image via SoccerOverload

It’s off to the finals of the Algarve Cup for the US Women’s Soccer Team after defeating Norway 4-nil on goals by Natasha Kei, Abby Wambach, Heather O’Reilly and Amy Rodriguez.

After finishing the top of their group, the Americans are set to meet the same opponent they had at last years Algarve Cup Final, Denmark which they won 2-nil.

Image via Slam

Pia Sundhage’s new look US Womens National Team got off on the right foot today at the Algarve Cup with a 4-nil win over powerhouse China. While Denmark pulled off the biggest upset in recent times, beating World Cup Champion Germany 1-nil, the Americans in Group B cruised to victory through goals by Lindsay Tarpley, Tobin Heath, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd.

For the final test before the 2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying in April, the United States Women’s National Team is heading to Portugal in hopes of retaining it’s 2007 Algarve Cup title in which they beat Denmark 2-nil.  Today Pia Sundhage named her 20 women roster that will face China on the 5th of March, Norway on the 7th and Italy on the 10th, with the final on the 12th.

United States Women’s National Team Roster By Position
2008 Algarve Cup Roster
March 5-12, 2008 – The Algarve, Portugal

GOALKEEPERS (2): Nicole Barnhart (2) (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Hope Solo (5) (Richland, Wash.);
DEFENDERS (6): Rachel Buehler (1) (Del Mar, Calif.), Stephanie Cox (4) (Elk Grove, Calif.), Tobin Heath (1) (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Kate Markgraf (7) (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Christie Rampone (8) (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (8) (Birmingham, Ala.);
MIDFIELDERS (7): Shannon Boxx (5) (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (5) (St. Louis, Mo.), Angela Hucles (4) (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (3) (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (4) (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (6) (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Angie Woznuk (1) (El Cajon, Calif.);
FORWARDS (5): Lauren Cheney (1) (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (3) (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O’Reilly (6) (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (3) (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (5) (Rochester, N.Y.)

image via Pictopia

After a sick kick off party at The Room in Hollywood to celebrate with our friends who’ve supported us since the beginning  on Thursday night,  it’s time for delivery on our Spring ‘08 line for Bumpy Pitch.  Special thanks to the players (Galaxy, Chivas USA, US Women and Hollywood United, ok and you too Max), buyers and Red Bull, 42 Below Vodka and 944 Magazine for the support that night.  We’ll have pics up in the next couple days.

We all know Steve Nash is a soccer fan.  He and his family grew up playing the sport, he’s trained with the Red Bulls, etc.  So why is he our fan of the week?  Because he is throwing down his own coin to be one of the eight owner operators in the new Women’s Soccer League.  People often times talk big game, but they do little to back it up.  Then you have cats like Steve Nash.  He has consistently been one of the biggest supporters of the game in the US, but he has gone about it with his own sense of doing it.  With Nash’s experience in the NBA and his partner Jeff Mallett’s experience as Chief Operating Officer of Yahoo!, these dudes should bring some interesting ideas and vision to the new league.  With all that Steve has won in his life, I’m sure being our fan of the week will rank right up there with his most important awards!  Congratulations!

image via DailyMail

It’s been a long time since she was a part of the US setup, but Lorrie Fair and her 123 Full Team caps have been signed by Chelsea’s Womens team over in London.  Even though she’s been signed to help the team win, she’s also been brought over in a coaching capacity, helping the womens game grow in England.

Tomorrow morning the new Women’s Soccer League will have a new investor and a new owner, Phoenix Suns and Canadian Steve Nash. A self confessed soccer nerd and father of 3 year twin daughters will team up with fellow Canadian and former Yahoo! chief operating officer Jeff Mallett amongst the 8 team league.

There’s a lot of freestyle soccer videos out there, but this is one of my favorites. Clearly the future of the US Women’s National Team lies with incredibly talented young women. Do your thing ladies!