U.S. WOMEN FACE NORWAY IN OLYMPIC REMATCH AT ALGARVE CUP

The U.S. Women’s National Team has already advanced to the championship game of the 2009 Algarve Cup with one group match to play, something the team has never done in 13 previous Algarve Cup tournaments, but the final group match still carries some major importance and meaning. It’s against Norway after all. This will be the 45th match between the two long-time rivals, the most for the USA against any country in the world and of course it will be the first meeting since the opening game of the 2008 Olympics, a game which saw Norway score twice in the first four minutes on the way to the 2-0 victory. Of course, the USA famously rebounded from that setback to win the Olympic gold medal, but surely the loss still stings. This will likely be the only meeting between the USA and Norway in 2009 after playing each other three times last year. The match kicks off at 3 p.m. local (11 a.m. ET) live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker. The Americans will also have an eye on the Sweden-Germany match at Stadium Algarve in Faro that kicks off at 1:15 p.m. local as the result of that game will determine the USA’s opponent in the Algarve Cup Final on March 11.