USWNT looks to refocus for CONCACAF Gold Cup knockout stage
LOS ANGELES — The journey in the CONCACAF Gold Cup hit a roadblock for the United States women’s national soccer team on the final day of group play.
With first place on the line Monday, the USWNT suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mexico. It was just the second loss against Mexico in 43 meetings, the first loss ever for the national team in California, the first loss against a CONCACAF opponent since 2000 and snapped an 80-game winning streak on U.S. soil against CONCACAF opponents.
Sunday kicks off a new week, with the team’s focus still on winning the tournament. The USWNT will face Colombia in the quarterfinals (5:15 p.m., Paramount+, ESPN+) at BMO Stadium.
“The standards for this team is very high and the expectation is to win in this program, all of the time,” USWNT interim coach Twila Kilgore said. “But reality is, sometimes when you’re working on things, it doesn’t quite come off. Sometimes the opponent is really good and there’s those moments and we understand that how we respond to them is everything. While we’re known for winning, we’re also known for competing, bouncing back and being proud who we are and we will continue to step forward in the right direction.”
USWNT forward Alex Morgan said the team took advantage of the time in between the end of group stage play and the quarterfinals to refocus.
“We’re in a really good place,” she said. “Actually I think the way that the tournament unfolded, with losing that last game to Mexico and the length in time in between games, gave us the opportunity not only to kind of close the loop on Mexico and start to focus on Colombia, but also work on ourselves and supporting each other.”
The USWNT and Colombia met in October in a pair of friendlies. The first ended in a scoreless draw and the second was a 3-0 USWNT win, thanks to three second-half goals.
Colombia, which advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s Women’s World Cup, finished second in Group B. The top two teams from each of the three groups, along with the two-best third-place teams were reseeded 1-8 for the knockout phase of the tournament.
Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid) and Catalina Usme (Pachuca) scored two goals apiece in the group stage for fifth-seeded Colombia.
“We played them quite a few times in recent years, so we are very familiar with them,” Morgan said. “They did pretty well in the World Cup and have had a good showing in this tournament so far. We have had this extra time where we’ve been able to take the extra time on the field and in our meeting room to focus and regroup to work on things that we need to in order to move on from the last game.”
What the group stage of the Gold Cup has proved is that there is no easy path for fourth-seeded USWNT. Losses like the one to Mexico have certainly opened eyes, both in and outside of the program.
“We have a very high expectation set on ourselves,” Morgan said. “Everyone does and that’s for good reason because we have won major tournaments, but of course as everyone’s seen and we’d love to see, the quality of women’s football globally is just evolving and getting better and there’s more opportunity for women to play football year-round.
“I don’t know if this next game is something that we’re saying that we need to prove something, but of course every single game is just a step in a direction that we’re trying to make as this team right now. Regardless of the last game, I think that our potential is extremely high. So, it’s putting all the pieces together and it’s working on things that we need to work on from the last game that we didn’t succeed at and kind of being able to excel in that next game and hopefully beyond that.”
Sunday’s doubleheader will kick off with Mexico, the No. 3 seed, against No. 6 Paraguay (2 p.m., Paramount+, ESPN+). Mexico didn’t concede a goal in three group-stage games and has won 11 of its past 12 games, recording seven consecutive shutouts.
Jacqueline Ovalle (Tigres) leads the team with three goals and two assists.
“We have to have the perspective that we can win this tournament,” Mexico coach Pedro Lopez said. “Now we have to focus on Paraguay and concentrate because it will be a difficult game.”
CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup quarterfinals
No. 3 Mexico vs. No. 6 Paraguay
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: ESPN+, Paramount+
No. 4 United States vs. No. 5 Colombia
When: 5:15 p.m. Sunday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: ESPN+, Paramount+