CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification: Favourites Still Invincible

In the final day of Olympic qualifying round robin action, the favourites finished off their perfect record with two more wins. Guatemala humbled the shocking Dominican Republic in the early game but the focus was on the United States and the arch-rival Mexicans, fighting for the top of Group B. The game gave the Americans their sternest challenge yet but was still one-sided as the United States won 4-0 thanks to a Carli Lloyd hat trick.

While Mexico gave the United States more of a test than they’ve been used to in the first two rounds, the game was still, predominantly, one-way traffic. There was no repeat of the United States’ shocking 2010 Gold Cup loss: the game was in their control from the start even though Mexico played hard through the final whistle.

While the higher-ranked Canadian and Haitian teams both emerged victorious on the last day of Group A, predictions of a more competitive final set came true as both sides endured at least a token fight from Cuba and Costa Rica.

The biggest news came off the field, as Cuban players Yezenia Gallardo and Yisel Rodriguez apparently defected. Scuttlebutt began when both players were listed as absent on the Cuban roster and it was learned that neither had been seen with the Cuban team since Saturday. CONCACAF released a statement confirming that the players had defected, reportedly at the American border: no further comments were forthcoming. However, it was the story of the game as well as a sore loss for the Cuban team, who got little from Rodriguez but relied upon Gallardo as one of their best players.