U.S. U-21 Team Advances to Nordic Cup Final
Sunday, July 29, 2001 | Soccer
Needing just a draw to earn a place in a fifth consecutive Nordic Cup championship game, the U.S. Under-21 Women's National Team put together its best performance of the tournament so far, dominating a rugged and skillful German team on both sides of the ball, but needed a 76th minute equalizer from 17-year-old Jill Oakes of the Santa Anita Strikers to salvage a 1-1 tie and a berth in the final. The USA will play Sweden for the championship on Tuesday at Gjovik Stadium (7:00 p..m. local/1 p.m. ET).
The USA and Germany finished group play with seven points each, but the USA won the group with a goal difference of plus-7 to Germany's plus-5. The Americans suffered a harsh blow in the match when Florida forward Abby Wambach picked up her second yellow card of the tournament for a hard foul on German captain Nia Kunzer and will be suspended for the championship game. Wambach shares the tournament lead at three goals through three matches with Canada's Christine Sinclair and Germany's Conny Pohlers.
The opening half was scoreless, but Germany's Kerstin Garefrekes curled her shot into the goal in the 57th minute to put the Germans up 1-0. The U.S. didn't panic and came hard at the Germans for 19 minutes before Oakes got the priceless goal the U.S. needed. U.S. head coach Jerry Smith made three changes in the 69th minute, sending on Oaks, Michigan Hawks's Anne Morrell and midfielder Lori Chalupny J.B. Marine. All added fresh legs and spark to the U.S. team, and in the 76th minute, Oakes tied the match with a 12-yard shot that snuck into the left corner.
The U.S. did endure a bit of drama at the end as the referee let five minutes of stoppage time go by, and in the last minute, German forward Jennifer Meier took a shot that was deflected for a corner kick. Wambach then came up big, clearing the cross out of danger with a solid header and the USA's place in the final was secure.
In Group B action, Sweden, Finland and Canada all posted four points, but Sweden won the group with a superior goal difference over the other two nations.
