Weekly news: my Concacaf runneth over even more
Concacaf W Gold Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup, MLS.
Leap week greetings. The year’s shortest month lives slightly longer. The rainy end of winter meets the premonition of spring. Dark midweek clouds heavy with raindrops find stubborn wintry sun rays the next morning. And just like that, March is here.
It’s weather meant for hiding, or over-sleeping, or sitting in the same spot all day watching soccer, imbibing fútbol, justifying this to your loved ones by saying, emphatically, this is work.
Much like spring (intentionally paired to its arrival) a great many green things are returning this side of the Atlantic. Shooting up through the frosty earth last week: Major League Soccer. Looming round the corner of two weeks: the 12th regular season of NWSL.
In between, the women’s international window bestowed a brilliant new competition upon our Concacaf-loving souls. A 12-team inaugural W Gold Cup features the best teams from across the Americas (Conmebol too). Over the course of the group stage, a beleaguered USWNT fell for just the second time ever to an ascendant Mexico; players like Colombia’s Linda Caicedo and Paraguay’s Jessica Martínez impressed with their finesse in front of goal; and Puerto Rico won our hearts over, before bouncing out in the groups by a non-footballing twist of fate.
Concacaf W Gold Cup
I must say that I am rather enjoying myself, perhaps even more than expected, watching the inaugural edition of Concacaf W Gold Cup this month.
From the US perspective, the opportunity to turn another page in a fresh chapter was enticing.
In their first two games of Group A, the (still number two ranked USA) played a 107 ranked Dominican Republic to a 5-0 result. Highlights include Midge Purce looking wicked on the wing, and 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie claiming the first US goal of 2024, then adding a second to call it a brace. In their second match, the US met ‘23 World Cup participant Argentina (ranked 31 by FIFA). Thanks to another brace from another teenager, this time Jaedyn Shaw, they ended the night 4-0.
Then the Mexico match came, a historic loss we may remember as *the* Mexico match well into the future. It was another ‘Dos a Cero’ for the rivalry books— this time for the women.
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