Mexico will look to prove themselves in the World Cup next month in Canada
By Ivan Yeo
It is a cloudy Saturday evening at Stubhub Center, though the sun has penetrated some of the clouds that still resonate above Carson, casting somewhat of a glare over the stadium as the Mexican women’s national team prepares for its training session.
The sun may have been on its way down at StubHub Center that evening, but come Sunday evening, the lights will be turned on and Mexico will resume its preparation for next month’s Women’s World Cup in Canada with a friendly match against the United States. Mexico is surely looking at the Women’s World Cup as another opportunity to establish themselves as a contender in women’s soccer.
“It’s a very nice feeling, especially with the thing’s we’re to structure in Mexico with the developing of the younger players,” Mexico head coach Leo Cuellar said of the progress of the program.
Next month’s tournament will mark the second consecutive time that Mexico has made it to the Women’s World Cup. While Mexico might not have the same sort of tradition of its more powerful CONCACAF neighbors, the United States and Canada, the program does have a proud history of its own, which actually dates back to the 1970s.
Mexico had placed third in an unofficial Women’s World Cup in Italy in 1970, then a year later, hosted another unofficial Women’s World Cup, where they reached the final, only to lose to Denmark 3-0 at Azteca Stadium. The attendance for that game was 110,000.
Success since then was elusive. Mexico did not make it to the inaugural Women’s World Cup in China in 1991 or the 1995 tournament in Sweden, but finished second to Canada in the 1998 CONCACAF championship to qualify for the 1999 Women’s World Cup in the United States. Mexico’s experience however turned out to be a brief one. Maribel Dominguez scored an equalizer in the 10th minute for Mexico’s first official World Cup goal in the team’s opener against Brazil on June 19, but things went awry soon after, as Brazil answered with six goals and cruised to a 7-1 win at Giants Stadium. Mexico then lost to Germany 6-0 and Italy 2-0 in its last two matches.
Mexico did not qualify for the next two World Cups after 1999, though the program did feature standouts in its lean years. There was Dominguez, who scored 75 goals in 109 games for Las Tri, and was good enough that Atletico Celaya, a men’s side no longer in existence, offered her a contract, but FIFA denied her the opportunity. There was also Juana Lopez, whose 105 caps is tops in the program’s history, and Andrea Rodebaugh, who wore the captain’s armband for Mexico during the 1999 World Cup. The team has also featured other Mexican-American players such as Monica Gonzalez, Natalie Vinti and Marlene Sandoval.
Not much was expected from Mexico at the 2010 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, even though Mexico,was hosting the tournament in Cancun. That tournament however would prove to be the springboard for Mexico’s revival. Las Tri made it to the semifinals, where they met up with the United States on November 5 at Estadio de Beisbol Beto Avila.
A quick victory for the U.S. was expected, but Mexico shocked the United States just three minutes in, as Dominguez scored to give Mexico the lead. Carli Lloyd equalized for the U.S. in the 25th minute, but Mexico had a response a minute later, as Veronica Perez headed in a cross to put Mexico back ahead.
The U.S. did everything they could to come back, but a potential equalizer was called back and when 90 minutes were up, Mexico had beaten the United States for the first time ever, and by making it to the finals, had qualified for the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany. In Germany, Mexico drew with England in its first match 1-1, as Monica Ocampo scored the equalizer on a spectacular long-range volley in the 33rd minute. Mexico lost Japan in its next match, then led New Zealand 2-0 heading into stoppage time, but the Kiwi’s scored twice in stoppage time to salvage a draw, and Mexico’s tournament was over.
The scenario facing Mexico for the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship bore certain resemblance to the 1998 tournament. This time, it was Canada that was the beneficiary of automatically qualifying for the World Cup as the host nation. With that in mind, qualification for the World Cup was basically a formality for Mexico. Still, Las Tri had its ups and downs, as they lost its opener to Costa Rica, but came back with a 10-0 thumping of Martinique, followed by a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Jamaica to advance to the knockout stage.
Mexico lost to the United States 3-0 in the semifinal round, but still had a chance to qualify for the World Cup with a win in the third place match against Trinidad and Tobago. Mexico’s Stephany Mayor scored in the 24th minute to put Mexico ahead, but Trinidad scored twice in the second half to take the lead. Ocampo however kept Mexico’s hopes alive, as she equalized a minute after Trinidad had taken the lead, the match went into extra time and in the extra session, Charlyn Corral scored twice and when the final whistle blew, Mexico came away with a well-earned 4-2 win, qualifying them for its second straight World Cup.
“It’s a very nice feeling to have the acceptance, to see the change of culture in our country of supporting the women’s program,” Leo Cuellar said. “I’m very grateful to work for a federation that has been very supportive.”
Players have come and gone for Mexico, but the one constant for Las Tri over the last 17 years has been Cuellar. Cuellar has had experience with American Soccer, having played in the old NASL for the San Diego Sockers, but his tenure with Mexico has been marked with controversy, as his early teams were known to feature more Mexican-American players than players born and raised in Mexico. That has balanced out over time, as Ocampo, Corral and Mayor have found their place alongside Mexican-Ameircan players such as Noyola, Renae Cuellar and Alina Garciamendez.
“These are players we’ve had since they were 12-13 years old,” Leo Cuellar said. “It’s been very nice to see them grow and have a position not just in Mexican Soccer, but also international soccer.”
For Mexico, it’s now time to look ahead to the future, which will lie in Canada for the next few weeks in June. Mexico is surely being considered and afterthought, especially considering the group they are in. Mexico is in Group F along with France, considered one of the favorites to win the tournament, and England, ranked sixth in the world, and Colombia, ranked 28th, three spots behind Mexico. Still, Mexico believes anything is possible as long as they stick to the script.
“We’re focusing on what we’re preparing for as far as our group and our tactics,” Renae Cuellar said. “We’re focusing on ourselves more than who we’re playing against.”
But perhaps midfielder Teresa Noyla said it best when describing the opportunity for Mexico to make a name for themselves and the program in women’s soccer’s biggest stage, which just happens to be in the Western Hemisphere this time around.
“Everyone on our team is itching to represent and show what we can do.”
United States and Mexico continue to experiment in StubHub Friendly
