Here’s a shocker. There were no surprises in Group B play Sunday in the CONCACAF 2012 Olympic qualifying tournament at B.C. Place.
Mexico and the U.S. both lived up to expectations, drubbing their opponents with ease.
Mexico got three goals from Anisa Guajardo and two from Jennifer Ruiz in a 7-0 afternoon win over the Dominican Republic. A little later, the U.S. beat Guatemala 13-0 as Surrey product Sydney Leroux came off the bench to score five second-half goals.
Leroux, who has Canadian and U.S. citizenship, played for Canada in the 2004 under-20 World Cup, but has opted to play for the U.S.
The feat tied teammate Amy Rodriguez’s tournament record for goals in one game.
Mexico and the U.S. are now 2-0 and will meet each other on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The winner will play the second place team from Group A in one of Friday’s semifinals while the loser will likely draw Canada in the other semi. Canada, 2-0, only needs a tie with underdog Costa Rica on Monday (7:30 p.m.) to clinch first place in Group A and get Tuesday’s U.S.-Mexico loser in its semi.
The top two teams advance to the Olympics in London.
Mexico head coach Leonardo Cuellar liked what he saw from his side. He chose to rest some of his regulars, including star forward Maribel Dominguez.
“We didn’t have control over what would happen in this next game (U.S.-Guatemala)” said Cuellar of his decision to rest some of his top guns.
“We could score a lot of goals but at the end if the U.S. scored one more goal in the goal differential it wouldn’t make a difference if we tied the game against the U.S.
“I decided to give rhythm to the rest of the players. This is a young team. They need to experience these scenarios. What happened today gave me a pretty good idea of how I’m going to balance these next two games.
“To see Anisa score three goals and Jenny two, I think it shows we have possibilities.”
Rosario Saucedo and Marylin Diaz had the other Mexico goals. Backup goalie Anjuli Ladron de Guevara got the start ahead of 17-year-old Cecelia Santiago and earned the shutout.
Mexico won’t be pushovers against the U.S. or Canada, should they end up colliding with the host side. Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 in a 2011 World Cup qualifier 14 months ago. FIFA currently has them ranked 21st in the world. The U.S. is No. 1 and Canada is seventh. By comparison, Guatemala is 85th, the Dominican Republic 88th and Costa Rica 41st.
Guatemala was no match for the U.S., which had beaten the Dominican Republic 14-0 in its tournament opener.
Abby Wambach opened the scoring in the 12th minute, scoring the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament record 12th goal of her career. She moved past Dominguez and Canada’s Christine Sinclair, who both have 11. Wambach made it 2-0 in the 14th.
The U.S. led 6-0 at the half before a crowd announced at 6,259.
Leroux’s work came well after the game was in doubt. Still, the deluge was impressive, with the goals coming in the 48th, 51st and 57th, 70th and 84th minutes.
Besides Wambach and Leroux, the U.S. got goals from Lauren Cheney (24th), Rodriguez (29th), Carli Lloyd (33rd), Lori Lindsay (34th), Megan Rapinoe (75th) and Alex Morgan (83rd).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Abby Wambach scored twice in the first half to move into third on the career goals list for women's international soccer, and the United States beat Guatemala 13-0 on Sunday to clinch a berth in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the London Olympics.
Mexico and the U.S. both lived up to expectations, drubbing their opponents with ease.
Mexico got three goals from Anisa Guajardo and two from Jennifer Ruiz in a 7-0 afternoon win over the Dominican Republic. A little later, the U.S. beat Guatemala 13-0 as Surrey product Sydney Leroux came off the bench to score five second-half goals.
Leroux, who has Canadian and U.S. citizenship, played for Canada in the 2004 under-20 World Cup, but has opted to play for the U.S.
The feat tied teammate Amy Rodriguez’s tournament record for goals in one game.
Mexico and the U.S. are now 2-0 and will meet each other on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The winner will play the second place team from Group A in one of Friday’s semifinals while the loser will likely draw Canada in the other semi. Canada, 2-0, only needs a tie with underdog Costa Rica on Monday (7:30 p.m.) to clinch first place in Group A and get Tuesday’s U.S.-Mexico loser in its semi.
The top two teams advance to the Olympics in London.
Mexico head coach Leonardo Cuellar liked what he saw from his side. He chose to rest some of his regulars, including star forward Maribel Dominguez.
“We didn’t have control over what would happen in this next game (U.S.-Guatemala)” said Cuellar of his decision to rest some of his top guns.
“We could score a lot of goals but at the end if the U.S. scored one more goal in the goal differential it wouldn’t make a difference if we tied the game against the U.S.
“I decided to give rhythm to the rest of the players. This is a young team. They need to experience these scenarios. What happened today gave me a pretty good idea of how I’m going to balance these next two games.
“To see Anisa score three goals and Jenny two, I think it shows we have possibilities.”
Rosario Saucedo and Marylin Diaz had the other Mexico goals. Backup goalie Anjuli Ladron de Guevara got the start ahead of 17-year-old Cecelia Santiago and earned the shutout.
Mexico won’t be pushovers against the U.S. or Canada, should they end up colliding with the host side. Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 in a 2011 World Cup qualifier 14 months ago. FIFA currently has them ranked 21st in the world. The U.S. is No. 1 and Canada is seventh. By comparison, Guatemala is 85th, the Dominican Republic 88th and Costa Rica 41st.
Guatemala was no match for the U.S., which had beaten the Dominican Republic 14-0 in its tournament opener.
Abby Wambach opened the scoring in the 12th minute, scoring the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament record 12th goal of her career. She moved past Dominguez and Canada’s Christine Sinclair, who both have 11. Wambach made it 2-0 in the 14th.
The U.S. led 6-0 at the half before a crowd announced at 6,259.
Leroux’s work came well after the game was in doubt. Still, the deluge was impressive, with the goals coming in the 48th, 51st and 57th, 70th and 84th minutes.
Besides Wambach and Leroux, the U.S. got goals from Lauren Cheney (24th), Rodriguez (29th), Carli Lloyd (33rd), Lori Lindsay (34th), Megan Rapinoe (75th) and Alex Morgan (83rd).
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Abby Wambach scored twice in the first half to move into third on the career goals list for women's international soccer, and the United States beat Guatemala 13-0 on Sunday to clinch a berth in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the London Olympics.
A left-foot tap in the 12th minute and a header in the 14th gave Wambach 129 career goals for the U.S. team, moving her past Germany's Birgit Prinz (128) and behind only Mia Hamm (158) and Kristine Lilly (130). The only active player in Wambach's range is Canada's Christine Sinclair with 125 - including five in this tournament.
The 31-year-old striker's exploits - along with those of newcomer Sydney Leroux - added some meaning to another suspense-free rout for the Americans, who have outscored their opponents 27-0 over two games as they attempt to earn one of two berths available for the Summer Games.
Leroux, earning only her second international cap, scored five goals as Wambach's halftime substitute - tying the U.S. record for most in a game. The record is shared by Wambach, Brandi Chastain, Michelle Akers, Tiffeny Milbrett and Amy Rodriguez.
The size of the Americans' victories - including the record-setting 14-0 win over the Dominican Republic on Friday - has hardly looked sportsmanlike, but the team is wary about any and all qualifying matches after stumbling against Mexico in a World Cup qualifier in late 2010. That loss forced the U.S., the top-ranked team in the world, into a playoff just to get into the World Cup in Germany, and coach Pia Sundhage and her players have made their theme to take nothing for granted this time around.
The wins have provided the Americans a comfortable goal-differential cushion that will allow them to win their group even if they tie their final group game, a much-anticipated rematch against Mexico on Tuesday. The Mexicans have outscored their opponents 12-0 after two games, including a 7-0 win over the Dominican Republic on Sunday.
Sunday's games capped four days of noncompetitive soccer, with the top four teams at the tournament outscoring the bottom four by a combined score of 51-0. Now come the matchups that truly matter: Canada-Costa Rica on Monday, followed by U.S.-Mexico the next day to determine the winners of the respective groups - and the matchups for the do-or-die semifinals that will produce the two teams headed to London.
Looking to rest some of her top players for the upcoming games, Sundhage made six changes to the starting lineup from the win over the Dominican Republic. One of the changes, of course, involved defender Ali Krieger, who injured her right knee against the Dominicans and is likely out for the Olympics. Heather Mitts started in Krieger's familiar spot at right back, and U.S. fans who made the trip across the border chanted "Al-ee Kree-ger" before kickoff.
Wambach's goals looked effortless against an overmatched Guatemalan team that routinely left players unmarked in the box.
Wambach was denied a hat trick when she clanged a shot off the crossbar in the 40th minute. When the ball caromed right back to her, she launched a header that was saved by Lemus off the post.
Leroux, a native of Canada who has an American father, returned to her former country to score in the 48th, 51st, 57th, 70th and 87th minutes. Leroux is the only member of the roster who didn't play for the U.S. in last year's World Cup.
Lori Lindsey also scored her first U.S. goal with a header in the 34th minute. Also in on the scoring were Cheney (24th), Rodriguez (29th), Carli Lloyd (33rd), Rapinoe (75th) and Alex Morgan (83rd).
Then the native of Surrey, who has dual citizenship and has chosen to play for the U.S. team at the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, was summoned into action at the beginning of the second half.
Replacing Abby Wambach, who earlier in the game set a scoring record in the final round of CONCACAF women’s Olympic qualifying with her 12th goal, surpassing Canadian Christine Sinclair, Leroux wasted little time in announcing her presence in the tournament.
She scored three goals in the span of just over nine minutes, then added two more late in the half as the American side defeated Guatemala 13-0.
Her fifth equaled Amy Rodriguez’s record for most goals in a CONCACAF Olympic qualifying final round game.
Leroux’s achievement had little influence on the outcome of the game other than whether the U.S. could surpass its 14-0 blowout win over the Dominican Republic on Friday to open the tournament.
But it was an impressive feat nonetheless, especially given she accomplished it in little time and in front of a large contingent of friends and family.
The book on Leroux coming into the tournament is that she’s a pure goal scorer. Her first was a fine example of that, as she blasted home a shot from inside the penalty area less than three minutes into the second half.
She then put home a header on a picture-perfect cross from Rodriguez. Her fourth goal in the 70th minute was almost a carbon copy, however it was Kelley O’Hara with the feed.
Leroux became the feel good story in a game that was over almost before it started.
The Americans went ahead 1-0 on a goal from Wambach in the 12th minute - a neat deflection with her left foot that chipped the ball past Guatemalan goalkeeper Maricruz Lemus.
The onslaught started from there, and the Americans were relentless.
Wambach scored her second of the night, and the goal that put her past Sinclair for the most scored in the final round of CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, two minutes later on a perfect header courtesy a free kick.
The Americans opened up a 6-0 lead on goals from Lauren Cheney, Rodriguez, Carli Lloyd and Lori Lindsey, before adding seven more in the second half.
But the good times the American powerhouse has experienced to this point could be at an end.
They’ll take on a game Mexican squad on Tuesday to see which of the two nations enters Friday’s semifinals as the first place team out of Group B. Both America and Mexico advanced to the semifinals, nonetheless.
Mexico defeated the U.S. in the semifinal of women’s World Cup qualifying in 2010.
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