FARO, Portugal — That wasn't a win. That was dancing in the Algarve.
Led by defense-shredding forward Christen Press, the U.S. women's national team took a fleet-footed gambol against France to claim a 2-0 victory and notch a record 10th Algarve Cup championship.
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U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo was also stellar in her third game of the year. When a penalty was called against Meghan Klingenberg in the 81st minute with the U.S. up 2-0, Solo aggressively punched out a scorching shot, drawing kudos from her teammates. It was Solo's third clean sheet of the Algarve Cup tournament — her first three appearances in 2015 after serving a 30-day suspension that appears to have taken nothing from her world-form performance.
All of these things helped combine for a pretty perfect win over the stalwart French and are reasons for the Americans to not just breathe a sigh of relief but also be able to reignite the old story line that the U.S. is back on top of the favorites' pool going into the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada in June.
France had steamrolled through the World Cup qualifying with a perfect 10-0 record. Likewise, it was undefeated in group play here in southern Portugal in a high-level tournament in which the squad was aimed toward demonstrating it is one of the most skilled and talented sides in the world.
That narrative took a punch.
Press put the U.S. up 2-0 in the 41st minute with an exclamation-point run through the French defense before slicing the ball past keeper Sarah Bouhaddi. The celebration at midfield by the U.S. side produced a little longer and more heartfelt group hug than usual, and no one could blame them.
It has been a long year since their 2014 Algarve Cup swoon. Last March, the U.S. finished seventh here and head coach Tom Sermanni was fired soon after. Player development director Jill Ellis replaced Sermanni, a move that has made the past 11 months a time for lineup shuffling and tryouts and a handful of disappointing match results in Brazil and France.
But in the title match at Algarve Stadium, Ellis called on veteran Carli Lloyd to anchor the midfield and installed a back line of Ali Kreiger, Julie Johnston, Becky Sauerbrunn and Klingenberg. Their work proved enough to keep prodigious French goal scorer Eugenie Le Sommer from getting her fourth goal of the competition.
Up front, Alex Morgan and Press were paired in an attack that failed to launch much pressure in the opening minutes. Press, though, finally used the space that was much more gamely created by the U.S. formation to cut a swath through the French defense and give the U.S. its first flicker of exciting offense in months.
The U.S. got on the board in the sixth minute after a questionable foul. Jessica Houara was whistled for pushing Press. The ensuing free kick by Lauren Holiday from the left side curved to the net and was headed in by Johnston. It was Johnston's first goal for the U.S. national team.
The U.S. is now 56-12-11 all time in 15 Algarve Cup appearances — the most wins and most appearances of any country.
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