NWSL

Germany clinched their second Algarve Cup win in three years after overcoming Japan in a 3-0 win in Faro.

Silvia Neid's side had conquered throughout the tournament, with victory over Norio Sasaki's outfit maintaining their unbeaten run.

It wasn't such a good tournament for the United States, though, who went into the event as holders as they looked to defend their crown.

A seventh-place finish was all that the US Women's National Team could muster in Portugal, but positives remained as the side showed five different scorers, with a mixture of old guard and fresh faces gaining vital experience for next year's contest.

Two goals from Abby Wambach helped secure a 3-0 win over North Korea and seal a seventh-place finish for the USWMNT in the Algarve Cup.

North Korea impressed during the tournament, scoring six goals and conceding just one strike as they outclassed Russia, Austria and host nation Portugal in Group C.

However, the States tore up the script as Wambach's 11th-minute strike opened the scoring before she added her second of the game on 58 minutes; Heather O'Reilly secured victory later on at Stadium Bela Vista in Parchal.

Sports Illustrated's tweet told of how O'Reilly capped her milestone appearance with a goal:

This was soon followed by admiration from within the camp, as Wambach tweeted of her own joy at seeing her team-mate show her longevity within the national setup:

It proved to be a missed tournament opportunity for the States. After winning last year's final over Germany, the side went into this year's competition chasing their 10th Algarve Cup win, but it wasn't to be after a torrid group stage left the US settling for seventh spot, leaving Germany to compete for the title.

The tournament winners had an emphatic group stage as they won all three ties against Iceland, China and Norway to bag nine points—scoring nine goals and conceding just one solitary strike as they finished at the summit of Group A.

Japan had found their own rhythm in the tournament, too, winning two and drawing one in Group B to ensure their place alongside Germany in the final, taking place at the Estadio Algarve in Faro.

After a goalless first half, strikes from Nadine Kessler, Anja Mittag and Dzsenifer Marozsan secured a 3-0 win for Germany to lift the 2014 title, with the country bagging their second tournament win in three years.

Meanwhile, the chance of a bronze medal was on offer to both Iceland and Sweden as their third-place play-off got underway. A frantic first half proved to be to Iceland's benefit with Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir scoring the opener after 28 minutes—Harpa Thorsteinsdottir doubled her side's advantage on the half-hour mark.

There wasn't enough fuel in the tank for Sweden to overturn the two-goal deficit, despite Antonia Goransson's last-minute strike, and Iceland finished third with Sweden settling for a fourth-placed tournament finish.

It took penalties to separate China and Denmark in their fifth-place play-off match after the sides shared a 1-1 draw.

A sixth-minute strike from China's Lei Jiahui gave her side the lead, with Denmark unable to respond with a strike of their own until the 87th minute when the Danes were awarded a penalty, which was duly dispatched by Sanne Troelsgaard Nielsen.

The penalty shootout soon got underway in Albufeira, with China bagging a 6-5 victory from the spot at Estadio Municipal.

The battle for ninth place got underway as Russia, with just one win in the group stage, took on a Norway side that had scored just two goals in the tournament.

Ekaterina Sochneva gave Russia the lead with just two minutes left in Parchal, as Norway failed to muster their third strike of the competition. That was Sochneva's first goal of the tournament and ensured her side's play-off win.

Signs of finishing the tournament on bottom spot looked nailed on against Austria, with Nadine Prohaska giving her side the lead after just three minutes. Double pain set in for the host nation with just 27 minutes played when Sarah Zadrazil netted to put her side into the ascendancy.

Jessica Silva managed to pull one back for Portugal with 20 minutes to go—her second of the tournament. However, it wasn't enough as Austria clung on to seal their 2-1 victory and leave their opponents to prop up the rest of the table.

Bleacher Report's John Halloran tweeted of his delight at Carli Lloyd's contribution to the USWNT team:

Lloyd's contribution throughout the tournament highlighted the strength across the board for the States, despite a disappointing group finish.

Going forward, the future certainly looks bright for the women's team, with experienced heads such as Lloyd adding to the presence and input of O'Reilly and Wambach helping to nurture future stars.

The tournament would have also opened coach Tom Sermanni's eyes as to the problem areas that need addressing while giving some of the squad's younger players a chance to find their feet.

The CONCACAF is due to get underway in October, with the States looking to travel to Mexico and provide more excitement than they did this time around.

But with O'Reilly hitting 200 caps at just 29 years of age, there's certainly a good number of tournaments in her yet, which can only be positive for not only the national side but women's football in general.

With the Portland Thorns defeating the Western New York Flash 2-0 in the NWSL final on Saturday night, the inaugural season of the National Women’s Soccer League is done and dusted. After 22 regular-season games and three playoff matches, here are six thoughts.

Congratulations to the Portland Thorns

A lot of credit has to be extended to the Portland Thorns. Not only were they excellent all season long, but to win the league, they had to beat the league's two best teams in FC Kansas City and the Western New York Flash on the road in the playoffs. To make it even more impressive, they did it missing two of their best players in Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath for stretches of both matches.

Morgan missed the entire semifinal match and was only a second-half substitute in the final. Heath was withdrawn early from both the semifinal and final matches.

Oh yeah, they also played the last 40 minutes of the final down a man after Kat Williamson was ejected in the 56th minute.

Could Becky Sauerbrunn Play as a Holding Midfielder for the USWNT?

While most of the attention from the U.S.’ success in the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympics focused on the U.S.’ offensive stars in Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, one of the unsung heroes for the United States in both tournaments was holding midfielder Shannon Boxx.

Boxx, sitting in front of the U.S.’ center-backs, has always been the one doing the dirty work for the team, breaking up opponent’s attacks, getting possession started out of the back and contributing with the odd set-piece goal.

Now 36, battling lupus and only starting one game in this year’s NWSL season, Boxx looks to be near the end of her career. Losing Boxx with leave a giant-sized hole in the U.S. midfield, and with Carli Lloyd and Lauren Cheney—who were the midfield combination for much of the 2012 Olympics—proving this season they are much more valuable as attackers, the U.S. needs to be looking for some cover at the holding midfield position.

Yael Averbuch may be able to do it and has looked promising during some of the U.S.’ recent friendlies, but Becky Sauerbrunn, the 2013 NWSL Defender of the Year, may be another option that hasn’t been looked at.

Sauerbrunn faces intense competition for playing time as a center-back with Christie Rampone, Rachel Buehler and Whitney Engen all firmly in the mix. Sauerbrunn also lacks elite-level speed, something very valuable for center-backs in the women’s game, and tends to struggle against teams with pacey forwards.

However, Sauerbrunn is excellent in possession of the ball (her bad giveaway in the NWSL semifinals notwithstanding), tactically smart and good in the air, three keys to being a top-class holding midfielder.

At the very least, it’s worth a look.

Alex Morgan Didn’t Get the Joke

If you missed the Twitter explosion last weekend between soccer writer Beau Dure and Alex Morgan and a host of USWNT fans last weekend, you really missed something.

During the Portland-Kansas City NWSL semifinal game, Tobin Heath was taken out on a tackle. Morgan, injured and on the sideline for Portland, could be seen and heard on the television broadcast screaming at the center official.

Dure, attempting to make light of the impression that USWNT players receive special protection by the NWSL’s referees, posted the following tweet:

Many fans, not getting that the tweet was in jest, set off on a series of overreactions and Morgan herself tweeted that Dure was an idiot:

To be fair to Morgan, Heath was injured on the play and had to leave the game. Heath recovered in time to play in the NWSL final and score the game-winning goal. Morgan, apparently, is still unaware that Dure was kidding as her tweet is still online.

Will the USWNT Stars Support the League Enough for It to Survive?

Last week, it was reported that Megan Rapinoe will be returning to Lyon for the 2013-14 season and will miss the first half of the 2014 Seattle Reign FC season once again.

Numerous other players like Tobin Heath, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Whitney Engen, Yael Averbuch, Christen Press, Lindsey Horan and Meghan Klingenberg have played or are currently playing overseas, but Rapinoe’s absence for the first half of the 2013 season hurt both Seattle and the league.

She is one of the most recognizable and marketable players and, like it or not, the average fan comes out to see the stars and their favorite players. With Rapinoe not playing, the league loses money. For Seattle, missing Rapinoe contributed to the Reign ending up with one of the worst records in the league, They finished with a meager 18 points, half of what was needed to make the playoffs.

You can’t really blame Rapinoe, who simply wants to play at the highest level possible, but if the top USWNT players don’t support the league, it has no chance of surviving.

Why Does Karina LeBlanc Not Start for the Canadian National Team? 

As a USWNT fan, I’ll admit that the only time I watch the Canadian team is when they are playing the U.S. So, maybe LeBlanc has been given her chance and not taken it, but based on club form, LeBlanc seems to be clearly better than Erin McLeod, the usual starter for Canada.

Besides the subjective evidence that LeBlanc simply looks like a better goalie, the objective evidence backs that up. McLeod finished the season with 28 goals against her in 16 games for a 1.75 goals-against average. LeBlanc finished with 23 goals against her in 21 games for a 1.09 goals-against average.

One might argue that LeBlanc had a better team in front of her, but a closer look at the statistics points to the fact that LeBlanc is what made her team better. LeBlanc finished with 92 saves, or 4.38 saves per game, compared to 64 saves, or 4.00 saves per game for McLeod.

Erika Tymrak is One to Keep an Eye On

2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year Erika Tymrak is a player the casual fan has yet to be introduced to, but is set to be a future star. Tymrak finished the season with six goals and four assists and has a lethal combination of dribbling skills, goalscoring ability and is a strong passing skills.

Many of the NWSL games this season were only available on gritty webstreams with few closeups, but even so, this short highlight clip will give you an idea of Tymrak’s skills.

Tymrak recently received her first USWNT call-up and will be part of the U.S. team facing Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 3, in Washington, D.C.

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The National Women's Soccer League—the third attempt at a professional women's soccer league in the U.S.—opens up its first season tomorrow.

Following the folding of the two previous leagues in three seasons each—the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) from 2001-2003 and Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) from 2009-2011—women's soccer proponents are hoping to avoid a hat trick of failure.

The new league features eight teams, five of which existed in one or both of the previous leagues.

But the big question is: How will this incarnation be different?

The new league has already taken two giant steps towards potential success. First, it's secured backing and support from soccer federations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Second, it's chosen the right soccer markets.

Aside from pursuing smaller stadiums and lower game-day operations costs, the bulk of cost-cutting will come by way of U.S. Soccer. The federation will be running the front office of the league in addition to funding the participation of 24 national team players.

Canada and Mexico are each funding 16 of their national team players.

This initiative will not only ensure that national team players are paid deserving salaries, but most importantly, it'll lift the burden of big contracts for the big-name stars. While most WPS player salaries were pathetic and hardly sustainable—often falling under $30,000—Brazilian superstar Marta required $500,000 alone (ironically still just above a quarter of the average NFL salary).

It was an unlikely coincidence when both WPS Los Angeles and Bay Area teams folded immediately after having Marta lead their charge. Los Angeles, who was also hosting games at the giant Home Depot Center, won a regular-season title in its last year as a club and the Bay Area won a league championship with the female Pele.

But glory was short-lived. This league will lack some of the bigger International stars like Marta, but U.S. National Team favorites like Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and Alex Morgan will be able to play without burdening their respective teams.

The eight women's soccer markets are Chicago, Boston, Portland, Seattle, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Kansas City and Rochester. And by the looks of it, it's a strong starting roster.

The last teams standing in the WPS included Boston (also in the WUSA), New Jersey and Rochester. The Chicago team left the league after two seasons, while the Washington D.C. franchise (another WUSA vet) changed ownership, relocated to Florida and became the center of a legal scandal that was the final kick in the league's imminent death. Rest assured however, that the revived Washington Freedom franchise has declared independence from all of that.

But the league couldn't have chosen three better new additions, all of which host popular Major League Soccer counterparts. The Pacific Northwest, especially, is not just well-known to house the two most passionate MLS fanbases, but it also sports the most heated rivalry in American soccer, dating back to the 1970s and the days of the North American Soccer League.

The Seattle Sounders have led the MLS in attendance for the past four years. And then there's the Portland Timbers, whose only real competition is the Trail Blazers, so you can understand why soccer has thrived so well, especially with a rival just over the state border.

Merritt Paulson, owner of the Portland Timbers, is an investor for the new franchise. All one has to do is look at the WNBA—which would have serious trouble existing without the generous backing of the NBA—to realized that even the smallest MLS involvement is pivotal. That, coupled with the backing of the soccer federations, could very well be the missing link to solving the so-far impossible U.S. women's soccer puzzle.

The league has pulled off a quick, four-month turnaround to the season opener, and the outlook is undeniably brighter than a year ago. But the most important factor in the new league's success could prove fatal once more: Do enough Americans care about women's soccer to sell tickets?

Check back in another three years.