MONTERREY, Mexico – Thursday delivered another methodical performance from USA women’s national team in one 3-0 win overtakes Costa Rica at the Estadio Universitario. The result secured the Americans a spot in Monday’s CONCACAF W Championship final, a match they and nearly everyone assumed they would win from the start.
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The road there is more labor-intensive than it has been for Vlatko Andonovski’s squad, but it’s enough to qualify for the 2023 World Cup – where the US will be looking to win an unprecedented third consecutive title – and put America into the first round of victory. a place in the 2024 Olympics.
“I think we need to be sharper overall,” says Emily Sonnett, who scored the USWNT’s original goal on Thursday. “I don’t think our team is happy with that. There’s a lot of things that we need to focus on. But overall, I think we were competitive and I think we got caught up in the game plan. play each match. How are we going to sum it all together now?”
Two of Thursday’s goals were the product of the US applying high-court pressure at the right time. Sonnett’s opening goal in the 34th minute – the first of her career in 69 appearances – was like Kristie Mewis Monday 1st Game Winner-0 win against MexicoAnother terrifying attempt from a corner.
The key to creating that opportunity is something that won’t show up on the stats: individual defensive effort from Mallory Pugh go to high place. A minute after Pugh nearly stripped Costa Rica goalkeeper Noelia Bermudez’s ball in her box, as the only player close, the United States winger put the Costa Rican defense under deep pressure. inside their defence, win the ball and go straight to goal forcing a corner kick. Sonnett scored in the next game.
Ten minutes later, it was Pugh’s turn to finish. Sophia Smith won the ball just outside the Costa Rica box and Rose Lavelle reacted quickly, heeling a pass from Pugh, who was running behind. Lavelle’s technique worked, but Smith’s pressure to get the ball up high was the catalyst.
“I think pressing is a great opportunity to forward and attack,” Pugh said after the game. “So I think if you look at it that way, like defense is offense, I think that’s just part of our identity. We wanted to create these moments of offensive transition. to be able to make ads continue. We want the teams to just feel that pressure, so I think that’s just part of our identity.”
Since Andonovski’s first game took charge in November 2019, the US press has changed more than in previous iterations under Jill Ellis. The 2019 World Cup winners played with constant pressure, high energy, demanding defensive efforts from the forwards as well as the midfield that were required to cover large spaces in wide areas. . The constant absence of Julie Ertz (pregnant) and Sam Mewis (recovering from injury), two of the three midfielders to start at the 2019 World Cup, is part of the reason the team’s region is in transition.
Andonovski took over, determined to add nuance to the team’s defensive pressure. His goal, he said at the time, was not to completely recalibrate a system that had brought the team great success, but to add sophistication to the process. Sometimes that means the Americans will reduce their head-to-head line a bit to challenge their opponent to play through them. Many competitors – especially at CONCACAF – can’t do it.
On Thursday, circumstances showed that the United States had to be selective about when to apply pressure anyway. The game kicks off at 6pm local time in the unrelenting sunshine as Monterrey’s ongoing drought drags on. The starting temperature was 96 degrees Fahrenheit, with a temperature like it felt over 100. Thursday was also the fourth game in 11 days for each team (10 for their opponents), and with the final against Canada looming on Monday, US employees must allow themselves to look ahead.
Andonovski said of heat management: “It depends on reading the moments and when we want to press and when we want to relax a bit and allow them to connect a few passes.”
The upcoming US-Canada clash is a rematch of last year’s Olympic semifinals, in which the Canadians won gold, forcing the US to settle for bronze. Canada will be the hardest and deepest opponent the US has ever faced in all competitions. This is also a team that likes to find transitions and attack counter-attacks, like what they did in the semi-final in Tokyo. The US dominated most of that game but conceded a lightning penalty after a Canadian counter-attack and lost 1-0.
Much of those same dynamics will play again on Monday, although the US roster has undergone a significant overhaul in the 11 months since that game. Canada, who beat Jamaica 3-0 in the late game on Thursday, will defend firmly and look to exploit the US on a large scale as the US full-backs push. That means the US will choose their moments to corner their opponents, in order to limit their exposure in the counterattack.
“I feel like the way Vlatko wants us to play, it’s different every game, isn’t it?” Alex Morgan speak. “It depends on whether it’s a defender or five defenders [for the opposition], the way in which they exert pressure – whether inside or outside, the space they give, or the high or the low. I think we faced different challenges in every game. “
Morgan followed up by noting that the US could lead 3-0 after halftime but missed opportunities, including hers. She hit the post during the match and America missed several chances from close range, which is a theme of this tournament. Sharpness is not yet available for this US version, but it should be available by Monday. The losing team in the final will have to wait a year to confirm its place at the 2024 Olympics through a playoff.
“I think we made too many technical mistakes, too many for the players on the pitch,” Andonovski said. “Because we know that they have technique. We know they can tackle the ball and pass the pass. and they can make different techniques. request.”
