USA 6-0 Costa Rica
The Americans finished the group stage of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying with an impressive win over Costa Rica on Monday night in Houston, Texas. The World Champions came to this final group match after dominating Panama (8-0) on Friday night. On the other hand, Las Ticas, who were already qualified to the semifinals of the tournament, were looking to show why they are the best Central American squad in the tournament. However, the USWNT were superior in all aspects of the match and beat them 6-0.
USA dominated the entire match. They controlled the possession of the ball at midfield and with a high pressure, they nullified any counter attacks their rivals would want to do. In addition, they took advantage of some changes the Costa Rica coach Amelia Valverde made in their squad, in order to rest some players for the next round, which help the Americans created many opportunities in offense.
The USA goals were scored by Christen Press, who had a brace as well as Sammy Mewis. Also, Lyndsey Horan and Jessica McDonald scored one a piece.
With the wins, the team coached by Vlatko Andonovski finished the group with an impressive but expected 3 wins in three matches. They also scored 18 goals and didn’t allowed any.
Now, the Americans and Las Ticas will travel to Los Angeles to play the semifinals of the tournament. USA as a Group A winner will face the second place of Group B (Mexico or Canada). On the other hand, Costa Rica will play against the Group B winner (Mexico or Canada). The winners of the semis will earn a spot at the next Olympic Games, which will take place in Tokyo, Japan this summer.
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