On the Twentieth of February 2008, announcements were made for the beginning of the 2008 Algarve Cup. The Algarve Cup will be the Fifteenth Annual Cup held in The Algarve in Portugal for Women Football [or Women Soccer] and will serve as a trampoline by the United States Women’s Soccer [Football] team for the preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China as well as for the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifiers to be held in Ciudad Juarez in Mexico in April 2008. The date for the Algarve Cup will be between the Fifth of March 2008 and end on the Twelfth of March 2008. The groups are already in place.

The countries that classified in Group A will be Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. The Group B Countries are the United States of America, China, Norway, and Italy. The last group which is Group C is Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, and Poland. The chances of the United States Women Soccer [Football] Team in winning the Algarve Cup lies in defeating its Group B opponents including China in its first game on the fifth of March 2008.

I would like to comment that the United States Women’s Soccer [Football] Team was the Algarve Cup Champions three times in a row between the years 2003 to 2005 and won again in 2007 thanks in part to their tireless efforts under the guidance and goals of Kristine Lilley and Carli Lloyd. While the United States Women’s Soccer [Football] Team has been successful in 2007 with some exceptions in the latter part of the year, I am confident that the United States Women’s Soccer [Football] Team can move to bigger and better things in the world of Women’s Soccer and Football under the leadership of Pia Sundhage.

The majority of the players have been in the Algarve Cup such as Hope Solo, Christie Rampone, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Cheney, and Amy Rodriguez. It is these players and the rest of the team who have shown to be have the stamina and the will to win and show the world that there are great soccer [football] players in North America who are truly the successors of Mia Hamm [who by herself was the greatest female football [soccer] player of her time. I would also like to declare that Hope Solo is one of the best goalkeepers in North American Female Football [Soccer] for reasons I will write later. Since I am talking about Algarve, I will say that Hope Solo is the person to watch.