U.S. women, with eye on World Cup berth, open CONCACAF qualifier
It’s been three years and three head coaches since the U.S. women’s national soccer team lost a heartbreaker to Japan in a World Cup final decided on penalty kicks.
On Wednesday the Americans begin the long climb toward another World Cup when they face Trinidad and Tobago in Kansas City, Kan., in their opening game of the CONCACAF regional qualifier for next summer’s tournament in Canada.
The U.S. will meet Guatemala on Friday in suburban Chicago before concluding group play Oct. 20 against Haiti in Washington, D.C. Mexico, the regional qualifying champion in 2010, faces Jamaica, Martinique and Costa Rica in the other four-team group.
None of the group games should be particularly challenging for a U.S. team that has outscored its three foes, 99-2, in 12 previous games, all victories.
“We beat these teams by significant margins in the past. And on paper we’re still better than them,” U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe said. “We want to put good performances together. And we feel like if we do that then the results will come.”
But even finishing second in their group would be good enough to send the Americans to next week’s semifinals in suburban Philadelphia, where a win would clinch a berth in the Oct. 26 CONCACAF final and also send them to Canada. That’s because both semifinal winners, as well as the winner of the third-place game, earn World Cup berths.
The U.S., ranked No. 1 in the world since February 2008, has a potent offense led by Abby Wambach — whose 170 international goals are the most in soccer history by a man or woman — and goalkeeper Hope Solo, widely recognized as the world’s best at her position.
The U.S. has gone through three coaches since 2011, though, with Pia Sundhage returning to coach in her native Sweden following the London Olympics and her replacement, former Australian national team coach Tom Sermanni, getting sacked last April after 15 months with the U.S. team.
Sermanni was followed by former UCLA coach Jill Ellis, who is unbeaten in 14 matches over two stints with the national team.
