Lindsey Horan’s header during stoppage time in the first half resulted in the United States’ 1-0 victory over Brazil on Sunday, securing them the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup.
Despite a defeat to Mexico in the group stage of the tournament, the United States emerged as the champion. This marked the inaugural women’s Gold Cup, an event designed to provide more significant competition among teams in the region.
Ignore the advertisement for the newsletter.
after newsletter promotion
This was the fourth occurrence of the United States meeting Brazil in a tournament championship. The Americans emerged victorious in the three previous encounters, including the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games.
31,528 people filled San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium for the game, setting a new record for attendance at a Concacaf women’s match.
During additional time, Horan was able to score a goal with a header off a nicely-positioned pass from Emily Fox. This marked Horan’s third goal in the tournament, with her previous goals being from penalty kicks.
In the 79th minute of the match, Lynn Williams of the United States almost scored a second goal, but the play was deemed offsides. In the final moments, Casey Krueger cleared a potentially threatening cross from Brazil.
The United States suffered a surprising defeat of 2-0 to Mexico during the group stage of the tournament. This was only the second loss for the Americans in the teams’ 43-game history.
The US team bounced back with a 3-0 victory against Colombia in the quarterfinals, followed by a penalty shootout win against Canada after a rainy 2-2 tie in the semifinals. They went on to claim a spot in the final.
Brazil had won each of their five matches in the tournament, including a 3-0 victory over Mexico in the semi-finals, scoring 15 goals. The Brazilians allowed just two total goals in the team’s first competitive tournament under coach Arthur Elias, who took over for Pia Sundhage after Brazil’s exit at last summer’s Women’s World Cup.
Similarly, the US team competed in their initial tournament with temporary coach Twila Kilgore, who took over the position following the departure of coach Vlatko Andonovski after their earliest elimination from the World Cup.
Emma Hayes has been recruited as the coach for the United States team, although she is currently finishing the season with Chelsea in the Women’s Super League.
Brazil and the United States have both earned spots in the upcoming Olympics in France this summer.
Source: theguardian.com
