Impetus’ man in Mexico is Jorge Ceron, and he brings us all the details from the initial group stage action in Monterrey (7/7/22).
The CONCACAF women’s championship has begun, and by the end of last night, all the participating teams had already played their first game of the tournament.
There is a lot at stake in this tournament. There are eight participating teams, divided into two groups. Group A consists of Mexico, United States, Jamaica, and Haiti, while in Group B are Canada, Trinidan and Tobago, Costa Rica, and Panama. The venue for the tournament is Monterrey, Mexico and there are two host stadiums, the BBVA Stadium, and the Universitario Stadium.
This tournament provides four direct tickets to the 2023 World Cup, the tickets will be obtained by the nations who finish first and second in each group, in the same way the third-placed nations in each group will have access to the World Cup repechage, which will take place in February 2023 in New Zealand and they will have another chance to qualify for the World Cup.
This tournament serves as a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the champions will have their ticket secured, and will be accompanied by the winner of a match between the second and third place nation in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
The tournament began at the Universitario Stadium, and was opened by one of the favorites, the United States team, a team that without putting their foot on the accelerator, beat Haiti 3-0, with two goals from Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave) and one more from Margaret Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC).
After that match came the arrival of host nation Mexico, a team that arrives with great hopes of returning to a World Cup. They took on Jamaica. An early goal after eight minutes froze the local team, and the fans as Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw scored. The coach of Mexico had surprised before starting the game with a line-up that had not been common in previous games.
Before the end of the first half, the hosts looked set to equalize on a couple of occasions, a shot that hit the post that was ultimately then misplaced, and a long-distance shot by Carolina Jaramillo that the Jamaican goalkeeper surprisingly caught. Jamaica missed a penalty and there is nothing more to say, Jamaica won 1-0, but the Caribbean could easily have won 3-0 or 4-0, the Mexican team had no ideas in the second half, and they were not even close to equalize the game, time passed, and Jamaica with some of its players who compete in the FAWSL, the Scottish league, and in the United States gained a victory that cannot be a surprise. They simply played their best football.
Mexico are on the ropes now, and it is necessary to win their second game against Haiti to have any hope of qualifying for the World Cup in Australia New Zealand 2023. In Group B, Costa Rica and Canada, as expected are dominant from the off. Costa Rica dispatched Panama 3-0 with Canada comfortable 6-0 winners against Trinidad and Tobago.
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