July 2, 2008In
pre-Olympic exhibition U.S. women beat Norway 4-0
FREDRIKSTAD, Norway (AP) - Midfielder Lindsay Tarpley
scored an early goal, and the United States beat Norway
4-0 on Wednesday in tuneup for the Olympic women's soccer
tournament.
Carli Lloyd, Angela Hucles and Abby Wambach added goals
for the Americans, an Olympic favorite along with Norway,
Brazil and Germany. The United States improved to 19-0 this
year, including a penalty-kicks victory over Canada.
"It's hard to play against us," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage
said. "You can keep up for 45 minutes, but after a while,
because you have to run so much and stay so focused in
defending, at the end of the day, so many times we look
stronger at the end of the game."
The Americans head to Sweden for another exhibition on
Saturday in Skelleftea. The United States then plays Brazil
on July 13 at Commerce City, Colo., and July 16 at San
Diego.
Tarpley scored just four minutes in, capitalizing on
Norway's sleepy defense.
Lloyd made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute, Hucles scored from
40 meters in the 84th and Wambach added another goal 3
minutes later - her 99th goal in 124 international
appearances.
The United Sates has outscored Norway 12-1 in their last
three matchups.
Two weeks ago, the Americans won the Peace Queen Cup in
South Korea for their fourth tournament victory of the year.
Earlier this year, the Americans beat China in January to
win the Four Nations Tournament, defeated Denmark for the
Algarve Cup in March and downed Canada on penalty kicks in
the final of CONCACAF women's Olympic qualifying tournament
in April.