The U.S. women’s national team qualified for the 2023 World Cup on Thursday night at the CONCACAF W Championship.
The United States defeated Jamaica 5-0 at Estadio BBVA but
had to wait until Haiti downed Mexico 3-0 in the late game to secure a spot in
next summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
With two victories at the W Championship, the United States
was atop its group and became the first team to win one of the region’s four
World Cup berths up for grabs. The U.S. women have qualified for every World
Cup, winning the last two tournaments and four overall.
Sophia Smith had two goals for the United States in the
opening eight minutes against the Reggae Girlz.
Rose Lavelle scored in the 59th minute and Kristie Mewis
added a goal in the 83rd. Some three minutes later Trinity Rodman, daughter for
former NBA player Dennis Rodman, scored her second international goal.
“Obviously, being a young player on this team, it can be a
little bit intimidating, but I think I’ve found my confidence and I’ve just
felt I can be myself on the field,” said Smith, who has eight international
goals. “That’s just what I’ve been doing and my team has been super supportive
of that.”
Megan Rapinoe was not available for the match because she
was at the White House on Thursday to receive the Medal of Freedom, the
nation’s highest civilian honor.
“We didn’t play well,” Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson said.
“You’re not going to play the world’s champ and play that bad and expect
anything to come out of the game. We weren’t good.”
Roselord Borgella and Nerilia Mondesir converted penalty
kicks and Sherly Jeudy added a goal for Haiti in the victory over Mexico,
stunning the tournament hosts.
The Americans will face Mexico and the Reggae Girlz will
play Haiti in their final group matches on Monday. Haiti could clinch its first
World Cup berth with a tie or win over Jamaica.
Eight teams were playing in the W Championship, divided into
two groups. The top two teams in each group qualify for the World Cup. The two
third-place teams will advance to an intercontinental playoff in New Zealand in
February.
The winner of the W Championship will also qualify for the
2024 Olympics.
Canada, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago are in
the other group.
0 comments:
Post a Comment