July 27, 2000

USA ties Norway 1-1 in first game played there

USA 1 Norway 1 Alfheim Stadium -- TromsØ, Norway July 27, 2000 - Kickoff 7:30 p.m. Local/1:30 p.m. ET Attendance: 3,810 - Bright sunshine, Warm - 76 degrees F.
Scoring: Norway: Pettersen ( Knudsen) 3rd minute. USA: Serlenga (Unassisted) 63
Norway 1 Nordby 17 Espeseth (5 Kvitland, 76) 3 Kringen (Capt.) 2 Sanduane 4 TØnnessen 7 Gulbrandsen (18 Gulbrandsen, 82) 8 Knudsen (14 Mellgren, 55) 6 Riise 10 Lehn (9 Rapp, 46) 16 Haugenes (19 Jensen, 46) 11 Pettersen. Yellow Cards Espeseth (caution) 75.	USA 1 Scurry (Capt.) 3 Pearce (13 Lilly, 46th) 14 Fawcett 6 Chastain 19 Slaton 8 MacMillan (16- Milbrett, 80) 2 Fair 5 Serlenga 11 Foudy (10 Akers, 61) 12 Parlow (9 Hamm, 59) 7 Whalen Yellow Cards None
Referee:	Statistical Norway USA Shots 7 6 Saves 2 2 Corner Kicks 4 4 Fouls 14 11 Offside 2 7

Game Report

Briana Scurry started in place of Siri Mullinix, and became the first goalkeeper in U.S. history to play 100 matches. It was Scurry's second match of 2000 after recovering from several injuries. She last played in February in Florida, also against Norway, a game in which she gave up a goal to Marianne Pettersen. History repeated itself in TromsØ, a charming fjord-side city located 120 miles north of the arctic circle that was bathed in a warm "Midnight Sun" for the match, as Pettersen tallied just three minutes into the game. Norway actually scored on its first shot when Knudsen's pass put Pettersen in a footrace with the U.S. defense. With Pearce in tow, Pettersen did well to dribble around Scurry, taking a touch as the U.S. goalkeeper dove at her feet, and somehow snuck the ball between the recovering Pearce and the near post from eight yards out for her 60th international goal.

It was a match short on dangerous chances, and in a rare occurrence, the U.S. team was out-shot, 7-6. Norway perhaps had a slight edge in real scoring opportunities, but the tie was well deserved as Serlenga brought out the canon in the 63rd minute. Hamm entered the match just four minutes before the goal and brought a spark to the U.S. attack. The Americans earned a corner-kick from the left side that Hamm drilled to the near post. Joy Fawcett kept the ball alive with a deft flick into the middle and Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby had to punch the ball away. It dropped in the middle of the penalty box where defender Anne TØnnesson tried to clear it with her heel, but the ball fell into the path of the onrushing Serlenga, who cracked her shot first time on frame. The ball whizzed by Nordby, but defender GØril Kringen lunged to block the rocket shot with her foot, only to see it hit the diving Nordby in the back and roll slowly across the goal line as Kringen and Nordby lay sprawled on the ground. The match was the first-ever for the USA against Norway in Norway, as a pumped up home side took the game to the Americans in the early going in front of a boisterous crowd. Norway played with a lone attacker in the 4-5-1 system, but that "1" gave the USA problems all game as Pettersen took four of Norway's seven shots. The U.S. team struggled in a tightly cramped midfield, giving away numerous balls, but rallied to play some quality possession against a Norway defense content to sit back and clog the middle of the pitch.

Post game quotes

Head Coach April Heinrichs
"Every single player that started for us had an impact on the game. There was great intensity in the first half, but we made one mistake and it cost us. And aside from one mistake in the second half, we played very well. We possessed the ball well and we're just an inch away from getting in behind them more consistently."

Nikki Serklenga
"It was really crowded in there, really all you could do was get the ball and play it back. When you turned to goal, they closed the space quickly. You saw gaps and then they just weren't there. When they take that away from us, we just have to get better at playing long balls over the top to stretch the defense."

Other

The match was just the second tie between the long-time rivals as the all-time series stands at 12-13-2 with the USA getting a chance to pull even on Sunday in Oslo at Ullevaal Stadium. A sell-out crowd of 25,000 is expected at Norway's national stadium for the match. Norway remains the only team in the world with an all-time winning record against the U.S. women. The match from Olso will be televised live on Pay-Per-View (Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. local/2 p.m. ET)