China suffer first defeat at Algarve Cup

 　　ALBUFEIRA, Portugal, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Two-time champions China suffered a 5-0 drubbing by the United States in a crucial Group B clash of the Algarve Cup women's soccer tournament on Friday.

　　China, who drew Sweden 1-1 in the opening battle, took the upper hand in the early period with more open chances.

　　Veteran captain Pu Wei sent a sharp through pass to clear the field in the Americans' box after 12 minutes, but her teammate failed to capitalize on the one-to-one chance, which was China's best opportunity in 90 minutes.

　　The United States, triple Olympic champions, created their first chance one minute later and scored. Leroux Sydney beat her opponent in the left flank and ran to the area before delivering an angled low shot.

　　China's keeper Zhang Yue failed to clear a high cross in the 32nd minute and left her goal open. Ali Krieger's easy finish made it 2-0.

　　After the restart, the heavy rain stopped to make both sides play with normal pace.

　　The Americans dominated the rest of game with three more goals to seal the second victory in a row and top Group B.

　　China, though fielding their former ace¹ striker Ma Xiaoxu, found it hard to seize foothold in the midfield with an offensive 4-1-2-3 formation, totalling four shots compared to more than 20 by the opponents.

　　Algarve Cup, the annually² global invitational tournament since 1994, is one of the most famous women's soccer events and features 12 teams divided into three groups for the 2013 edition.

1 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。