By: Nina Samone
In the 89th minute of the contest, Kristie Mewis score for the U.S. women’s team off a rebound from a header by Emily Sonnett – sealing the fate of the game and with it Mexico’s hopes of a World Cup title.
Most of the contest was scoreless, but the U.S. team pulled through.
“As the atmosphere was getting fired up, our team started losing the focus [and] the tempo,” said U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski per ESPN.
“But I was very happy to see at the end that we found a way. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t nice, but in order to win big tournaments, we know that sometimes you are just going to have to find a way. We were able to do that.”
Mexico put forth a great effort against the current title holders. They kept their opponent to a narrow margin of victory, largely due in part to Mexico’s goalkeeper, Itzel Gonzalez. Gonzalez and the Mexican team defended very well, frustrating the U.S. attack efforts.
Staying toe-to-toe with the U.S. team is very uplifting, but in the grand scheme of things this game is the third loss in a row for the Mexican team after losing to both Jamaica and Haiti.
The term “Milagro,” (miracle) was very popular in the Mexican media prior to the game, as that is what it would take for Mexico to still have a chance at the World Cup.
The United States will proceed to the CONCACAF Women’s Semifinals against Costa Rica on Thursday, July 14th.
Sources:
Kassouf, Jeff & Hernandez, Cesar. July 12th, 2022. ESPN. “USWNT ends spirited Mexico’s Women’s World Cup dream with CONCACAF W Championship win.” <https://www.espn.com/soccer/concacaf-w-championship/story/4698887/uswnt-ends-spirited-mexicos-womens-world-cup-dream-with-concacaf-w-championship-win>
