Twila Kilgore, serving as the interim coach for the United States women’s national team, emphasized the challenges ahead for her team as they have “no easy games anymore.” This sentiment follows a shocking 2-0 defeat to arch-rival Mexico during a group stage encounter in the Concacaf W Gold Cup on Monday — the first loss to Mexico since 2010.
“It just shows how far the game is coming and there’s no easy games anymore,” Kilgore said. “If we don’t take care of business and we don’t execute, this is to be expected. We’ll step up and take ownership of that.”
“I think they had a good game plan, I think we had a good game plan. Simply, they just executed theirs better than ours,” Kilgore said. “Part of that does have to do with intensity but generally can be measured by things like tempo with the ball, but also defensive things like winning first tackles and winning second balls.”
Mexico’s victory over the USWNT marked only the second time in history that they’ve bested the American side. This triumph comes on the heels of a disappointing showing by the Americans at last summer’s Women’s World Cup, culminating in a premature exit in the round of 16. Following Kilgore’s assumption of the interim coaching role post-World Cup, the USWNT had enjoyed an undefeated streak spanning eight games until their setback against Mexico.
Entering the match, the U.S. held a commanding lead in the Concacaf rivalry, boasting a dominant record of 40 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.
As a result of Monday’s outcome, Mexico claimed the top spot in Group A with seven points, while the USWNT settled for second place with six points. Argentina secured third place with four points, while the Dominican Republic languished at the bottom of the table with zero points.
Both Mexico and the USWNT have secured their spots in the quarterfinal stage of the inaugural W Gold Cup. However, their next opponents hinge on the outcomes of Group B matches on Tuesday and Group C fixtures on Wednesday. Following Wednesday’s matches, the top two teams from each group and the two best third-place teams will advance to the knockout rounds.
The quarterfinals are slated to take place at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium over the weekend, with matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Subsequently, the semifinals and the championship game will unfold at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on March 6 and 10, respectively. Looking beyond the tournament, Emma Hayes, the current manager of Chelsea, is set to assume the helm of the USWNT later this spring.
