Wisconsin Soccer Central

Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) earned her second cap for the U.S. women's national team on Tuesday, but once again it came in a surprising loss.

The Bayern Munich forward came off the bench for the final 8 minutes as the Americans tried to complete a huge comeback, but ended up losing to Denmark 5-3 in a Group B finale at the Algarve Cup in Albufeira, Portugal.

The U.S., which had been unbeaten in 43 matches (36-0-7) until a 1-0 loss to Sweden last Friday, lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2001. It also was the first time in the program's 30-year history that it allowed five goals in a match.

Down 3-0 at halftime and 4-1 after 62 minutes, the Americans pulled within 4-3 on Megan Rapinoe's goal in the 68th. U.S. coach Tom Sermanni brought on strikers Hagen and Abby Wambach in the final 10 minutes and played with three up top, but couldn't find an equalizer and saw the Danes seal their historic victory with a stoppage-time goal.

The Americans, who finished 0-2-1 in group play, will face North Korea in the seventh-place match on Wednesday in Parchal. It will be the worst finish for the U.S. in 19 appearances at the Algarve Cup; its previous lowest finish was sixth in 2001.

On Twitter: @sarahapplehagen

• Shannon Smyth (Mequon/Milwaukee DSHA) played the full 90 minutes Monday as the Republic of Ireland scored in the 90th minute to tip Switzerland 2-1 in its Group C finale at the Cyprus Cup in Paralimni. The Irish and South Korea both finished 1-0-2 in the group and tied in their meeting, but the South Koreans had a plus-4 goal differential compared to Ireland's plus-1 margin. Ireland, the lowest-ranked team in the 12-team tournament at No. 33 in the latest FIFA women's world rankings, will face seventh-ranked Canada in the fifth-place match Wednesday in Nicosia. It's the first time in the tournament's seven-year history that Canada didn't advance to the final. On Twitter: @ShannonSmyth