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US Women face Germany today in Algarve Cup final

Lori Lindsey of the Philadelphia Independence has three assists for the USWNT at the Algarve Cup

The US Women face current Women’s World Cup holders Germany in the Algarve Cup final today. You can follow today’s match from 11 a.m. at US Soccer’s Match Tracker.

The US and Germany are currently listed first and second in the FIFA/Coca Cola Women’s World Rankings and faced off against one another in the 2005 and 2006 Algarve Cup finals. The US won the first encounter and lost the second on penalty kicks.

This will be the the US team’s eighth consecutive Algarve Cup final. Having previously beaten Iceland 2-0 and Norway 2-1 in the earlier rounds of play in Group B, on Monday the US defeated Sweden 2-0 to finish undefeated in the group, sweet revenge for the loss last year on penalty kicks to Sweden in the tournament final.

Lauren Cheyney leads the US with three goals and an assist while Inka Grings leads Germany with five goals. While ten different players have scored for Germany, only Cheney and Abby Wambach, with two goals, have scored for the US. The US record against Germany is 17-4-4, with a record of 7-1-3 since 2001. When the countries last met in Germany on October 29, 2009, the US won 1-0.

Representing the Philadelphia Independence at the tournament are defender Heather Mitts, midfielder Lori Lindsey, who had an assist in each of the group games, and forward Amy Rodriguez.

Germany, who have scored 16 goals while allowing none, are also undefeated in group play, including a 5-0 victory over China to reach the final. China will play Sweden for third place before the championship game.

Held in Portugal, the Algarve Cup was founded in 1994. The first final featured Norway against the US. Norway won 1-0 and was the dominant team in the tournament in the 1990s, winning a further three championships. The US beat Norway for its first championship in 2000 after losing to China 2-1 in the final the year before. The US has won the final five times since then, including three in a row between 2003 and 2005.

For  match highlights of the group games, visit the US Soccer Media Center.

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