Algarve Cup 2003

Algarve Cup 2003
Number of nations	12
winner	USA (2nd title)
venue	Portugal ( Algarve )
Opening game	March 14, 2003
Endgame	March 20, 2003
Gates	56  (⌀: 2.33 per game)
Top scorer	Hanna Ljungberg

The Algarve Cup 2003 was the tenth edition of the annual tournament for women's national football teams and took place between March 14th and 20th, 2003 in the Portuguese Algarve . The USA team won the tournament ahead of defending champions China and Norway .

Participating teams

In 2003, twelve teams took part in the invitation tournament. First-time participants are marked in italics .

Denmark  Finland  France  Greece  Ireland  Canada

Norway  Portugal (hosts)  Sweden  United States  China (defending champion)  Wales

Tournament course

The twelve participating teams were divided into three groups and met in a round-robin tournament . The eight strongest teams were assigned to groups A and B, the four weakest teams competed in group C. In the subsequent final round, the group winners of groups A and B played for the tournament victory in the final, the second and third of these groups for third and fifth places. The best fourth of groups A and B competed against the winner of group C in the game for seventh place, the worst team in groups A and B against the runner-up in group C in the game for ninth, while the third and fourth-placed teams of Group C faced each other in a game for eleventh place.

Group stage

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	United States	3	1	2	0	003: 200	+1	05
2.	Norway	3	1	1	1	002: 200	± 0	04th
3.	Sweden	3	0	3	0	003: 300	± 0	03
4th	Canada	3	0	2	1	002: 300	−1	02

March 14, 2003 in Olhão
United States	-	Canada	1: 1
Sweden	-	Norway	1: 1
March 16, 2003 in Ferreiras
Sweden	-	Canada	1: 1
Norway	-	United States	0: 1
March 18, 2003 in Vila Real de Santo António
Norway	-	Canada	1-0
United States	-	Sweden	1: 1

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	China	3	2	1	0	005: 100	+4	07th
2.	France	3	2	0	1	004: 300	+1	06th
3.	Finland	3	0	2	1	000: 100	−1	02
4th	Denmark	3	0	1	2	001: 500	−4	01

March 14, 2003 in Silves
Denmark	-	France	0: 3
China	-	Finland	0-0
March 16, 2003 in Lagos
Denmark	-	Finland	0-0
China	-	France	3-0
March 18, 2003 in Albufeira
France	-	Finland	1-0
China	-	Denmark	2: 1

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Greece	3	1	2	0	003: 100	+2	05
2.	Portugal	3	1	2	0	005: 400	+1	05
3.	Ireland	3	1	1	1	005: 400	+1	04th
4th	Wales	3	0	1	2	002: 600	−4	01

March 14, 2003 in Lagoa
Portugal	-	Wales	1: 1
Ireland	-	Greece	0-0
March 16, 2003 in Guia
Portugal	-	Greece	1: 1
Ireland	-	Wales	3: 1
March 18, 2003 in Quarteira
Greece	-	Wales	2-0
Portugal	-	Ireland	3: 2

Final round

Game for 11th place

March 20, 2003 in Montechoro
Ireland	-	Wales	2: 2, 4: 2 i. E.

Play for 9th place

March 20, 2003 in Lagoa
Denmark	-	Portugal	1-0

Game for 7th place

March 20, 2003 in Guia
Canada	-	Greece	7: 1

Play for 5th place

March 20, 2003 in Olhão
Sweden	-	Finland	5-0

3rd place match

March 20, 2003 in Quarteira
Norway	-	France	1-0

final

USA ( world champion )		China
	March 20, 2003 in Loulé (Estádio Municipal) Result: 2: 0 (0: 0) Spectators: 1,000 Referee: Eva Odlund ( Sweden )   Match report
	Briana Scurry • Cat Reddick , Joy Fawcett , Brandi Chastain , Kate Sobrero • Lorrie Fair , Julie Foudy , Kristine Lilly (73rd Heather O'Reilly ), Aly Wagner (66th Angela Hucles ), Shannon MacMillan (76th Tiffany Roberts ) • Mia Hamm Trainer: April Heinrichs	Zhao Yan • Sun Rui , Li Jie , Zhou Xiaoxia (66th Chen Jinyu ), Liu Yali • Zhao Lihong (66th Han Duan ), Pu Wei , Ren Liping (57th Zhang Ouying ), Liu Ying • Sun Wen (88th place) Teng Wei ), Bai Jie Trainer: Zhang Haitao
	1-0 Shannon MacMillan (52nd), 2-0 Mia Hamm (56th)
		Zhao Lihong, Zhou Xiaxia

Web links

• 10th Algarve Cup 2003 (Women's Tournament) , in: rsssf.com , accessed on June 13, 2015.