This has not been a good week for women's soccer in the United States.
Women’s World Cup Qualifying: Mexico Shocks U.S. In One Of Biggest Upsets Ever
Not only is negative news surrounding the WPS, but now the U.S. Women’s National Team is in danger of missing the World Cup for the first time ever.
The first bit of news, while unfortunate, is not entirely surprising.
The U.S.'s 2-1 loss to Mexico in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament's semifinal, on the other hand, is so shocking that it registers as one of the biggest upsets in the history of women's soccer.
Simply pointing out that the U.S. was ranked No. 1 in the world and Mexico was No. 22 hardly does the historical significance justice. Coming into the match, the U.S. had gone 24-0-1 against Mexico and outscored their southern neighbors 106-9. The U.S. had been even better during CONCACAF qualifying, having gone 19-0-0 and outscoring their opponents 131-3.
“I think Mexico made us look not so good today,” U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said. “They are a very technical team. We tried hard, but we weren’t lucky and Mexico had a good goalkeeper. We couldn’t put away the chances we created and if you can’t do that, you won’t win. The women’s game is so tight nowadays, there are so many good teams out there, that you have to put away your chances.”
Mexico, buoyed by their hometown crowd, took the early lead on a 3rd minute goal by Maribel Dominguez. Although Carli Lloyd equalized for the U.S. in the 25th minute, Mexico stormed back ahead on a Veronica Perez goal in the 27th minute.
Just two CONCACAF teams are guaranteed spots in the World Cup, and those will go to Mexico and Canada — who beat Costa Rica in the other semifinal.
In order not to miss the World Cup for the first time, the U.S. will have to beat Costa Rica in the third-place game of the qualifying tournament and then have to advance past Italy in a home-and-home series. The U.S. will visit Italy on Nov. 20 and then host Italy at Toyota Park on Nov. 27.
“Very rarely are we in this situation,” Lloyd said. “I think that we all have to regroup. I’ve already stopped thinking about the game and we have to focus on Costa Rica. That’s the biggest thing. We can always say, ‘what if’ but we have to move forward. This will make our group stronger and is going to make us appreciate the ride a bit more. You can never take anything for granted.”
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