ALBUFEIRA, Portugal, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 2019 Algarve Cup women's soccer invitational tournament curtained up on Wednesday, 100 days ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup in France, as defending champions Sweden and the Netherlands fared quite differently on the opening matchday.
In group D, Sweden asserted their desire of defending the title by thrashing Switzerland 4-1 thanks to Mimmi Larsson's hat-trick and Kosovare Asllani's goal, while Switzerland got a bit consolation through Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic's strike.
The Netherlands, however, lost their group B opening match 2-0 to Spain. Jennifer Hermoso scored a goal in each half for Spain.
Norway triumphed 2-1 in their Group C opener against Denmark in a dramatic manner. Despite French league outfit Paris Saint-Germain forward Nadia Nadim's 17th-minute goal, Norway managed to find a path to victory, as they leveled the score in the 77th minute by Therese Sessy Asland, and Lisa-Marie Utland scored the winner two minutes into stoppage time.
Norway will face China in Friday's second round match.
The Group A duel between Canada and Iceland ended in a stalement.
The 26th edition of Algarve Cup features 12 teams slotted in four groups. The two best group winners will contend for the title, while the other two group winners participate in the third-place playoff. The remaining teams will appear in respective classification matches according to their group positions and results.
