One minor hurdle in Americans’ way
If the stakes weren’t so high, one might compare the U.S. women’s national team’s semifinal match against Trinidad and Tobago to a boxing champion facing a stiff for the purse money.
The Harlem Globetrotters would expect a bigger test from the Washington Generals than what is expected to unfold Friday night at BBVA Compass
Stadium in the nightcap of a CONCACAF Olympic Women’s Soccer Qualifying Championship semifi-
nal doubleheader.
Until this year, Trinidad had never gone past the group stage of this event.
The United States, which features FIFA’s 2015 Women’s World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd of the Dash, has never lost an Olympic qualifying match.
Nonetheless, anybody who has laced up soccer boots knows the beautiful game can be a cruel mistress that doesn’t always reward dominance.
Lloyd, the star of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, and the U.S. national team aren’t taking anything for granted as they prepare to face Trinidad for a berth at this summer’s Rio Olympics. Canada will face Costa Rica in the first semifinal. The semifinal winners qualify for the Rio Games.
“I think these players are experienced enough to know that it’s really about executing our performance,” U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. “There’s no gimmies in this game, and it’s about respecting the game and, obviously, our opponent and being focused on what we need to do. Instead of taking the foot off the gas, actually, this is when the pedal goes down.”
The U.S. outscored Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica 16-0 to cruise into the semifinals with a 3-0 record as the top seed from Group A. Trinidad was 2-1 to finish as the second seed in the weaker Group B.
Canada outscored Trinidad, Guyana and Guatemala by a combined 21-0 to finish atop Group B with a 3-0 record.
Shutout string
Canada trounced Trinidad 6-0 in the group stage, and nobody would claim the Canucks are nearly as good as the No. 1 team in the world.
“Fortunately for us, we’ve played Trinidad quite a few times,” U.S. cocaptain Becky Sauerbrunn said. “If you look at World Cup qualifiers, we only won that game (against Trinidad) 1-0.
“So you never know on any given day what’s going to happen if the ball is just not bouncing our way or if Trinidad comes out and plays the game of their lives or we just don’t have players that show up. You just never know. We’re all very mentally prepared, and we all know is that this is a very serious game. We’re really preparing hard, and we’re going to take it to them.”
The Americans are 160-1 in Olympic qualifying history. They have not allowed a goal in Olympic qualifying since Canada tied them 1-1 in regulation of the 2008 final, which the U.S. won on penalty kicks. The Americans have played eight consecutive Olympic qualifying matches without giving up a goal.
The U.S. has qualified for all five Olympics since women’s soccer was introduced, winning four gold medals.
Canada’s Olympic history has been more modest. Nonetheless, the Canucks almost upset the U.S. in the semifinals of the London Games before forward Alex Morgan scored in stoppage time to advance the Americans to the finals with a 4-3 victory.
Canada had to settle for the bronze medal at the London Games after beating France 1-0.
“We don’t want people to say the last Olympics was a fluke,” said Dash and Canadian defender Allysha Chapman, who started every game of the 2015 World Cup. “We’re going into this next Olympics, and we want to medal. We want to medal back-toback so that people know it wasn’t a fluke.”
Lloyd self-motivated
But Canada must first get past Costa Rica in the semifinals Friday.
Lloyd, who led the U.S. over Japan last summer with the first hat trick in the history of the Women’s World Cup, has embraced her leadership responsibilities as co-captain. The Dash midfielder has helped integrate seven players who weren’t on the roster for the 2015 World Cup. Trinidad may be ranked No. 28 in the world, but the U.S. might be more focused on pushing itself.
“I want to win,” Lloyd said. “I want to win everything that I play, whether it’s a fun, casual game of basketball. That’s how I’m wired and am so competitive in everything that I do. Winning is just satisfying.”