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Defense first U.S. plays to 0-0 draw vs. Sweden in Australia Cup
Posted: Monday January 10, 2000 01:49 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- The U.S. women's soccer team played to a 0-0 tie with Sweden on Monday in the second round of the four-nation Australia Cup. The Americans, playing without the stars of last year's World Cup-winning team, stopped four shots on goal in the first half. In contrast to its 8-1 win against the Czech Republic last Friday, the U.S. relied heavily on defense, with Nandi Pryce and Danielle Slaton leading the way. Susan Bush had three good chances to put the Americans ahead in the second half, but missed. U.S coach Lauren Gregg was pleased with the result and the quality of soccer. "The positive sign is that the girls are still disappointed with a 0-0 draw," she said. "Even though we didn't pull it off, I was happy with the quality of our opportunities." Gregg said the pay dispute between the leading U.S. players and the sport's national administrators, which prompted the World Cup stars to boycott the Australia Cup, was being discussed at top level and would be resolved before the Olympics in September. But she said the boycott created advantages for U.S. soccer. "This event is providing everything we could hope for," Gregg said. "It's giving our young players invaluable game experience as they keep giving us reasons to invest in them to help us win next summer and in the future." Sweden coach Marika Donanski Lyforn said her team should have capitalized on its chances in the first half. "I knew we would meet a very good U.S. team," she said. "I think we should have made a couple of goals in the first half -- that's what you have to do to win against any U.S. team." Australia, coming off a 2-0 loss to Sweden in Sydney last Friday, defeated the Czech Republic 3-0 on Monday. The U.S. takes on host Australia, and Sweden plays the Czech Republic in the third and final round in Adelaide on Thursday.
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