2008 Algarve Cup

2008 Algarve Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Portugal
Dates	5–12 March 2008
Teams	12 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	9 (in 9 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	United States (6th title)
Runners-up	Denmark
Third place	Norway
Tournament statistics
Matches played	24
Goals scored	68 (2.83 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Margrét Lára Viðarsdóttir (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Cathrine Paaske Sørensen
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Algarve Cup was the fifteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 5 and 12 March 2008 with the reigning champions the United States winning the event for a record sixth time, after defeating Denmark, 2–1, in the final game^[1] in a repeat of the previous year's final.

The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that played a round-robin tournament. The entrants were almost identical to the previous year, but Italy moved up into Group B from their previous ranking in 2007, replacing France who did not feature this time. Poland appeared in the competition for the first time.

Groups A and B, containing the strongest ranked teams, were the only ones in contention to win the title. The group winners from A and B contested the final, with the runners-up playing for third place and those that finished third in these two groups playing for fifth place.

The teams in Group C were playing for places 7–12, with the winner of Group C playing the team that finished fourth in Group A or B with the better record for seventh place and the Group C runner-up playing the team which came last in Group A or B with the worse record for ninth place. The third and fourth-placed teams in Group C played for eleventh place.

Points awarded in the group stage follow the standard formula of three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. In the case of two teams being tied on the same number of points in a group, their head-to-head result determined the higher placed.

The twelve invited teams were:

Team	FIFA Rankings (December 2007)
Germany	1
United States	2
Sweden	3
Norway	5
Denmark	8
China	13
Italy	14
Finland	16
Iceland	21
Poland	27
Republic of Ireland	31
Portugal (hosts)	47

All times local (WET/UTC+0)

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Denmark	9	3	3	0	0	3	0	+3
Germany	6	3	2	0	1	5	1	+4
Sweden	3	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1
Finland	0	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6

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Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
United States	9	3	3	0	0	10	0	+10
Norway	6	3	2	0	1	7	7	0
Italy	3	3	1	0	2	4	6	−2
China	0	3	0	0	3	1	9	−8

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Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Iceland	9	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8
Portugal	6	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1
Republic of Ireland	3	3	1	0	2	2	6	−4
Poland	0	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5

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All times local (WET/UTC+0)

DENMARK: GK 1 Heidi Johansen DF 2 Mia Olsen  76' DF 3 Katrine Pedersen DF 4 Christina Ørntoft DF 5 Bettina Falk  76' MF 6 Mariann Gajhede MF 7 Cathrine Paaske Sørensen MF 10 Camilla Sand  76' FW 9 Maiken Pape  54' FW 11 Merete Pedersen FW 13 Johanna Rasmussen Substitutes: MF 8 Janne Madsen  54' MF 12 Line Røddik  76' FW 14 Marie Herping DF 15 Marie Bjerg  76' GK 16 Tine Cederkvist DF 17 Mette V. Jensen MF 18 Theresa Nielsen FW 19 Sine Hovesen  76' DF 20 Sanne Troelsgaard Manager: Kenneth Heiner-Møller

UNITED STATES: GK 18 Hope Solo DF 3 Christie Rampone DF 14 Stephanie Cox  60'  74' DF 15 Kate Markgraf DF 17 Lori Chalupny MF 5 Lindsay Tarpley  77' MF 9 Heather O'Reilly  46' MF 11 Carli Lloyd  35' MF 12 Leslie Osborne FW 6 Natasha Kai  81' FW 20 Abby Wambach  88' Substitutes: DF 4 Cat Whitehill MF 7 Shannon Boxx MF 8 Lauren Cheney  88' MF 10 Angie Woznuk  77' MF 16 Angela Hucles  35' FW 19 Amy Rodriguez  81' DF 20 Tobin Heath  46' GK 24 Nicole Barnhart DF 26 Rachel Buehler  74' Manager: Pia Sundhage

2008 Algarve Cup
United States Sixth title