USWNT able to win the World Cup? What subsequent for Mexico? CONCACAF W Championship surprises, takeaways

The CONCACAF W Championship is over and the lone victor, as of Monday night time, is the U.S. women’s national team after beating Canada 1-0 within the closing. By profitable this new match, the Individuals had been rewarded handsomely: they clinched spots in each the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in addition to a spot within the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Canada, Jamaica and Costa Rica additionally all certified for the World Cup, however Canada should face Jamaica, the third-place staff of the CONCACAF W Championship, in a playoff for the final regional Olympic spot. In the meantime, the hosts of the match held in Monterrey, Mexico suffered a shock early exit, not even getting out of the group stage, which implies El Tri will miss their second straight Girls’s World Cup.

The match noticed the resurgence of Alex Morgan, who had been on the outs with the U.S. for months, helped immediate scrutiny and firings within the Mexican federation, and set the stage for the following yr of girls’s soccer heading into the Girls’s World Cup. ESPN’s lead U.S. author Jeff Carlisle, and ESPN contributors Jeff Kassouf and Cesar Hernandez, who each lined the match on-site in Mexico, wrap up the CONCACAF W Championship with their closing ideas.

So, who was the match MVP?

Carlisle: This is not as straightforward a job because it sounds. The U.S. had 9 totally different scorers and did not concede as soon as over 5 video games. And the way in which supervisor Vlatko Andonovski rotated his lineup did not lend itself to 1 standout participant. But when pressed, Rose Lavelle will get the nod. The U.S. wasn’t as dominant on this match because it was 5 years in the past, however Lavelle led the staff with 9 possibilities created over the course of the match, and she or he drew the very important penalty that made the distinction within the closing.

Kassouf: Vanessa Gilles. Frankly, there weren’t quite a lot of constant, standout performances on this match. Alex Morgan and Julia Grosso scored clutch objectives and have legitimate arguments for this award. Melchie Dumornay may need gained it if Haiti would have made the knockout stage. Gilles will get the nod for continued success in 1-v-1 battles and her omnipresent place on a strong Canadian again line. She got here up massive once more within the closing when the U.S. put Canada beneath fixed strain.

Hernandez: It is robust to choose from top-performing gamers like Canada’s Julia Grosso and Jessie Fleming, Jamaica’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, and an extended record of USWNT gamers. That stated, we have now to stay with match MVP Alex Morgan. With two objectives from the group stage already in hand, the American ahead stepped up when it mattered most with a game-winner off a penalty in Monday’s 1-Zero closing towards Canada.

To cite Andonovski on Morgan: “Huge gamers are born for giant moments.”

Greatest disappointment of the match?

Carlisle: There’s actually no competitors for Mexico on this class. The hosts entered the match as one of many favorites, however as an alternative exited after three group stage defeats by which it failed to search out the again of the online. But when checked out by means of purely USWNT-colored glasses, the ending left a lot to be desired, particularly when you think about that eight of the staff’s 13 objectives got here within the first two video games.

The ultimate specifically noticed the U.S. squander some golden alternatives. Changing simply certainly one of them might have created appreciable respiratory area that might have eased the strain within the closing few moments. Come subsequent summer season, the U.S. might want to rediscover its deadly streak in entrance of objective.

– Foudy: Will Andonovski’s tactics continue to work for USWNT?
– Kassouf: Should CONCACAF stick with W Championship format?

Kassouf: There isn’t any getting round it: El Tri Femenil failed. Sure, Group A was tougher. Sure, this was a younger staff with important strain upon it to get again to the World Cup and supply a proof of idea for a rising home league. Failing to make the semifinals is disappointing sufficient, however not even qualifying for the worldwide playoff is a miss of epic proportion. It will likely be at the very least one other 5 years till Mexico can attempt to return to the World Cup.

Hernandez: The instruments had been all there for Mexico to thrive as hosts within the CONCACAF W Championship, however as an alternative, El Tri Femenil supervisor Monica Vergara appeared to tactically overthink her method to a disastrous spot on the backside of Group A and not using a single objective, a single level, and most notably, no invitation to the 2023 World Cup or 2024 Olympics. Relying on upcoming evaluations set to be made by the Mexican Soccer Federation, Vergara might not final for much longer.

Greatest shock takeaway from the match (in a great way)?

Carlisle: I am going with Haiti. Les Grenadières had been considered the weakest staff in Group A. The U.S. and Mexico had been the favorites to advance, and Jamaica certified for the final World Cup. However Haiti’s 3-Zero win over Mexico was sufficient to safe third place, and advance to the 10-team intercontinental playoff, to be held subsequent February. Granted, profitable one recreation looks like a low bar, however the truth that Haiti continues to be alive speaks effectively to the progress the staff has made.

Kassouf: It may not appear overly stunning for a 2019 World Cup participant to qualify once more, however Jamaica — like too many groups on this area for too lengthy — hardly bought a lot organized assist from its federation heading into the match. Head coach Lorne Donaldson signed a contract, which ended on Tuesday, a couple of weeks earlier than the match, and Jamaica managed to qualify for the World Cup and grind out a win within the third-place recreation to maintain Olympics hopes alive.

Hernandez: The Haitians had been enjoyable to look at within the CONCACAF W Championship, particularly of their gorgeous 3-Zero win over match hosts El Tri Femenil within the group stage. After qualifying for the inter-confederation playoff for Australia/New Zealand 2023, the Caribbean aspect might quickly construct off of their surprising end at third in Group A and doubtlessly qualify for his or her first-ever World Cup.

Greatest query left to be answered popping out of this match?

Carlisle: Assuming most well being, what precisely is Andonovski’s most popular lineup? One might provide you with a reasonably honest U.S. aspect simply made up of gamers who had been absent, a bunch that features (deep breath) Crystal Dunn, Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Julie Ertz, Lynn Williams, Sam Mewis, Christen Press, Catarina Macario and Tobin Heath. Then there are the gamers who took steps ahead in the course of the match, like Sofia Huerta, Emily Fox and Naomi Girma. Becky Sauerbrunn, Lindsay Horan, Lavelle and Alex Morgan look like locks. You may’t say that about anybody else. The one assure within the coming months is that the competitors for locations will probably be much more cut-throat than it usually is.

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Vlatko Andonovski praises Alex Morgan after the USWNT’s 1-Zero win within the CONCACAF W Championship closing.

Kassouf: I agree with the opposite Jeff — which gamers compose the best beginning XI for the US? The reply is not a lot about proper now, however with an eye fixed on the 2023 World Cup. The objective of this match was to win (and double qualify) but additionally to supply quite a lot of new gamers their first pressure-filled alternatives in a significant match. The again 4 and goalkeeper positions rotated all through the match, and there are important gamers whose returns from damage will create additional competitors, together with Catarina Macario, Tierna Davidson and Sam Mewis.

Hernandez: For me, it is what now for El Tri Femenil and Vergara? Regardless of the lackadaisical consequence on the CONCACAF W Championship, Mexican girls’s soccer will proceed to develop. A brand new technology of gamers and a younger however promising Liga MX Femenil have made big strides lately. The evident weak point is one relating to management, and it might be surprising to see Vergara maintain her job after a present analysis interval. The potential influence of a brand new sporting director function within the FMF, which can cope with simply girls’s soccer, additionally stays to be seen.

Was the new tournament format from CONCACAF and Monterrey as a lone host metropolis the precise selection?

Carlisle: The present setup appears sub-optimal, although the problem is not nearly “what” or “the place,” but additionally “when” — holding this match in the summertime months is simply asking for brutally scorching climate to be part of the equation. That is certain to have an effect on the standard of video games, and followers’ willingness to attend. If it must be held then, CONCACAF ought to think about holding matches in a locale with extra reasonable climate or an indoor venue (with grass, to be clear).

As for the format itself, transferring to a home-and-home format appears a greater decide of groups, however whether or not the assorted federations are prepared to speculate the money and time to do this is a much bigger query.

Kassouf: One step ahead… one step again? The format is a bizarre mixture of enchancment (a closing that issues) with ongoing frustrations (too quick, too anticlimactic). Why is qualifying crammed into two weeks and you will get to the World Cup with two simple victories? An extended qualifying marketing campaign can be higher for everybody in the long term, nevertheless it requires endurance. Monterrey has confirmed it is a metropolis which may assist two of the perfect girls’s groups within the nation, so advertising points with the match are on CONCACAF. And no one can management the dire drought that affected life all through town and created challenges for locals.

Hernandez: Event format the precise selection? Possibly. The victors will not make very many complaints, however there’s something to be stated about these left with out Olympics and/or World Cup spots that may really feel that qualifying for the 2 tournaments should not be bundled into one competitors.

As for Monterrey as host, the transfer was bold however did not comply with by means of with expectations. A extreme drought, a poor run from Mexico and an absence of on-the-ground native promotion appeared to hamper loads of pleasure. Coupled with the soccer-hungry metropolis not likely shopping for into many of the nationwide staff video games, and also you get a way of hesitation to say that placing all the marbles into only one metropolis may not have been the perfect blueprint.

The USWNT has gained the CONCACAF W Championship and now we’re now lower than a yr out from the 2023 World Cup — will the USWNT be capable of defend its World Cup title?

Carlisle: By way of expertise, the U.S. positively has what it takes. And if nothing else, the CONCACAF W Championship showcased the U.S. staff’s depth. However that solely accentuates the aforementioned query concerning the staff’s finest XI. It is a champagne drawback in the event you’re Andonovski, however one he’ll want to search out solutions to because the World Cup approaches.

Kassouf: Andonovski stated mid-tournament that they don’t seem to be prepared for the World Cup now, however they are going to be. That’s one of the best ways to reply at this stage. The sky will not be falling for the U.S., nor are the European challengers abruptly head and shoulders above the Individuals. The U.S. is in a rebuilding course of which we have not seen in over a decade. Does this group collectively appear like it may win a World Cup proper now? No. Neither does Canada. Neither do a bunch of different groups globally. That is how issues go a yr out from the match.

Is there sufficient expertise on this refreshed U.S. participant pool to get the job finished subsequent yr? I feel so. They positively want extra time collectively. And so they positively should be extra constant.

Hernandez: A very cautious sure, but additionally with a watchful eye on what is going on proper now within the Euros throughout the Atlantic. It appears as if the USWNT stay in the midst of a course of with incorporating new names and discovering a proper roster stability, however they have been capable of efficiently proceed doing this whereas profitable the CONCACAF W Championship. The large query going ahead is that if this ongoing course of will probably be a easy one earlier than the beginning of the World Cup.