2012 Algarve Cup: Anything Less Than Cup Win Is Disappointment for US Women

The United States Women's National Team has won the Algarve Cup seven of the last nine years.

Anything less than a win this time around will be a complete disappointment following their stunning penalty kicks loss to Japan in the World Cup.

Japan is competing in the 2012 Algarve Cup with the US, as is Sweden—a team that handed them a group loss in Germany.

Regardless, the American women are still the most talented squad in Portugal this week. All the World Cup stars—such as Alex Morgan, Abby Wombach and Hope Solo—are on hand, and the US, who have won already won seven matches in 2012, are the clear favorite.

They opened the tournament with a dominating 5-0 win over Group B opponents Denmark today, just finishing up play in the past hour. Joining the US and Denmark in the group are Japan and Norway.

USWNT will play Denmark on March 2nd and Japan on March 5th. The tournament will be completed on March 7th.

Unlike the US men, who have had a ton of turnovers and hired a new coach, the US women are still coached by Pia Sundhage and are currently ranked as No. 1 team by FIFA.

Whether the expectations placed on this squad are too much or not, they're very real.

The US women have been at the top of the game for some time now, and it won't change the way they continue to develop talent. Therefore, anything less than a win in Portugal will be a disappointment.