U.S. women waltz to CONCACAF title
CHESTER, Pa.—The U.S. women made it look easy.
Not just in their 6-0 win over Costa Rica for the CONCACAF championship on Sunday, but throughout the entire week-and-a-half long tournament in four different cities. The Americans outscored opponents 21-0, showcased their depth without an injured Alex Morgan, and qualified for the 2015 World Cup.
But what exactly did the U.S. learn from these games? Most opponents had a bunker-down mentality where they put as many as 11 players behind the ball in their defensive third to combat the U.S. attack. It was frustrating to play against, made it difficult to play balls through and combine, and forced the U.S. to alter its plan.
"What I'm most pleased with is they're taking information in such a short time and they're applying it," coach Jill Ellis said after the game. "That's the piece that I think eventually down the road will be most important. We got to see some glimpses of things that we are going to be capable of.
"I was very pleased with the whole tournament. I thought we got better as the tournament went on. We weren't used to teams sitting off of us and you have to kind of master that."
Ellis said countless times this style won't necessarily be something they see when they play teams like Germany or Japan. It helps that the U.S. can adapt to various tactics and systems and have success, but it remains to be seen if these games were much of a test.
This is why over the next several months the U.S. will play elite competition. In December, they'll go to Brazil and play in a four-team tournament against Brazil, China and Argentina. Early next year, they'll go to Europe for a couple of to-be-scheduled friendlies, and then in March, head to Portugal for the 2015 Algarve Cup.
"I want to take them somewhere that's going to be challenging where we're gonna get booed," Ellis said. "I want them to feel the atmosphere, I want them to get used to traveling and being together … I want the best competition from now on."
It was hard for Ellis to say how close her team is to being where she wants it. Ideally, they'll be at that point come March.
"I think a little bit is knowing what the ceiling is with this team," she said. "I believe the ceiling is very, very high. Consistency, I've talked about. That's the true mark of a champion, is consistency in performance. Today we played a pretty complete game. So I don't think we're there, but I do think all these games and just the training (helps)."
The Americans' victory over Costa Rica was their best game of the tournament by far. They were sharp and in attack mode all night, with 14 shots on goal. Costa Rica rarely had chances and had no shots on goal.
Abby Wambach scored four goals, three with her head, setting an American record for goals scored in a World Cup qualifying tournament with 18.
After the game, Costa Rica coach Garabet Avedissian laughed when a reporter asked how to stop a player like Wambach.
"All you can do is pray the ball doesn't get to her," he said. "To find a player who can jump with accuracy and power is very rare. And she's very intelligent."
Wambach, who only played 28 minutes in Friday's game against Mexico, played all 90 on Sunday.
"I wanted her to play 90 tonight and fill the back of the net and she did," Ellis said. "She's made a really strong commitment to making sure physically she's ready for this and I think we can use her in multiple ways. The focus is crazy. She's really locked on and working every facet of her game. We did some extra heading because she didn't feel her timing was right."
Four years ago, the Americans didn't win the CONCACAF tournament after losing to Mexico in the semifinals. Wambach admitted that third place medal still hangs in her closet as a reminder of what she doesn't want.
But as the Americans left the field Sunday night, they were energized that they can do something they haven't done since 1999.
"It's a constant reminder not to let opportunities slip by and that we can win a World Cup," Wambach said. "If this team can manufacture seven consistent games—they don't have to be great looking games—but seven consistent games where we come up to the plate where certain players shine, I think we have a really great chance of winning the World Cup."
