Soccer / DAILY REPORT
As a tuneup for the Athens Olympics, the Four Nations tournament worked out just fine for the United States.
Lindsay Tarpley scored in the 13th minute and Joy Fawcett made a penalty kick in the 36th on a cold, wet day at Shenzhen, China, to give the Americans a 2-0 victory over Canada and the title for the second consecutive year.
“I was pleased we got better every game,” Coach April Heinrichs said.
China finished second after rallying to tie third-place Sweden, 2-2.
Canada was fourth and did not score in the round-robin tournament.
The U.S. was without Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain. They are expected to return for Olympic qualifying beginning Feb. 25 at Costa Rica.
Tarpley, in her first overseas competition with the women’s team, opened the scoring by driving the ball past goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc.
Fawcett scored on a penalty kick after Abby Wambach was fouled in the box.
Tarpley was the tournament’s leading scorer with three goals.
She is a North Carolina sophomore who helped lead the Tar Heels to their 18th NCAA championship in the fall.
Heinrichs praised her team’s tactical play amid a grueling schedule of three games in five days.
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Galaxy Signs Herzog
Austrian international midfielder Andreas Herzog signed with the Galaxy as a 2004 Discovery Player. No financial terms were announced.
Herzog, who becomes the first Austrian in Galaxy and Major League Soccer history, played for Austria in the 1990 and 1998 World Cups.
The Galaxy also announced that forward Carlos Ruiz is expected today in camp at Carson.
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Burn Adds Assistants
Steve Morrow and Brian Haynes were appointed assistants on the Dallas Burn.
Morrow, 33, spent the last two years as a defender for the Burn before retiring near the end of the 2003 season because of a neck injury.
Before joining the Burn in 2002, Morrow played 39 games with the Northern Ireland national team and played 10 years with Arsenal of the English Premier League.
Haynes, 41, is beginning his third year on the Burn staff after spending four-plus years as a midfielder with the team.
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Bummer for Arsenal
Jose Antonio Reyes scored his first goal in English soccer.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, it counted for the other team and knocked it out of the League Cup final.
Reyes scored an own goal to hand host Middlesbrough a 2-1 victory over Arsenal and set up a title match against Bolton.
Signed from Sevilla last week and making his first start, Reyes slid to stop Stuart Parnaby from scoring but diverted the ball past his goalkeeper five minutes from the end.
The victory gave Middlesbrough a 3-1 victory on aggregate.
Bolton beat Aston Villa, 5-4, setting up a final Feb. 29 between two of soccer’s least storied teams.
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Nantes Moves On
A 5-4 victory over Auxerre on penalty kicks gave host Nantes a spot in its first French League Cup. The match ended in a scoreless draw in regulation.
Nantes will play the winners of today’s semifinal between Sochaux and Saint-Etienne.
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Quick Passes
Chicago Fire midfielder Jesse Marsch had surgery on his right ankle and is expected to be out at least 12 weeks.... Kurt Jara was hired as coach of struggling Kaiserslautern in Germany, one day after the firing of Eric Gerets.... Manchester City appealed the three-match ban imposed on Nicolas Anelka after he received a red card for tussling with Arsenal players Sunday.
