There is an invaluable opportunity for redemption at hand for two major North American powers in the women’s national soccer team. After the United States and Canada failed to live up to expectations at last year’s World Cup, the final script can now be rewritten for both teams during the inaugural CONCACAF Gold Cup, a 12-team international women’s tournament set to kick off in 2019. The first time on Tuesday .
With eight representatives from CONCACAF and four guests from CONMEBOL (South America), the opportunity to claim the title of Best in the Americas will be available not only to high-level teams such as the United States and Canada, but also to a host of black teams. Horses that are on the rise. The teams are divided into three groups of four teams each, with the top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams moving on to the knockout round concluding with the final match at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on March 10.
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Given the tournament’s debut, there’s a lot of uncertainty about how things will play out and the potential impact it could have on women’s football, but before we discuss what it means for those involved, let’s first delve into the how and why of the World Series. The gold cup came.
Create the W Gold Cup
In an effort to increase the number of women’s national team matches within the region, CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer in North America affiliated with FIFA, unveiled New calendar for the four years In 2020, this will lead to a revamped World Cup qualifying tournament (eventually renamed the “Concacaf W Championship”) in 2022, as well as a completely new “CONCACAF Women’s Nations League” in 2024.
“The new calendar prioritizes the official match dates for all CONCACAF women’s senior national teams, ensuring elite competition to showcase the highest level of women’s international football,” according to a press release that includes qualification pathways for both tournaments. “With this new calendar, CONCACAF will more than double the number of women’s national team matches compared to the current cycle of competitions.”
Additional details were added in 2021. Along with qualification for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the 2022 Concacaf W Championship will also provide a pathway to the 2024 Olympics. Those invited to the Olympics were then also granted entry to the 2024 CONCACAF Women’s Nations League Final Championship, which was Rebranded as CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
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While the United States (winners of the 2022 Concacaf W) and Canada (finalists of the Concacaf W, winners of the Olympic matches) have claimed these two invitations, the rest of the Concacaf region will continue to participate in the “Road to the World Cup” preliminary. CONCACAF Gold Cup competition. Similar to the Nations League structure that has recently been used to provide more meaningful matches for men’s national teams, but with different branding, women’s national teams are now given the opportunity to do the same.
In the build-up to this month’s W Gold Cup – which, like the men’s Gold Cup, is scheduled to be played every four years according to the 55-page tournament regulations – there has been a long-awaited push for more official matches in women’s football.
“Gold Cup Final W [tournament] “Not only will it crown a champion of what is now known as CONCACAF’s flagship international women’s competition, but it will also conclude a 4-year cycle in which teams from the region will compete in a minimum of 195 official matches, representing a 118% increase over the previous four-year cycle.” Male A press release In 2021.
“Together, the 2021 Concacaf W Qualifiers, the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, the 2023 Road to Concacaf W Gold Cup and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup will accelerate the growth of women’s football and provide a consistent fixture and competition structure for our member associations.”
More matches are undoubtedly better for the countless mid- to lower-level teams in Concacaf that don’t have the same opportunities or resources as the regional powers above them. Providing a pathway to a tournament like the W Gold Cup and the additional platform through it is also crucial. However, given those strengths, that doesn’t mean the United States and Canada can’t benefit from the W Gold Cup as well. Aside from the intense desire to bounce back from disappointment on the world stage by winning a continental title, there is importance beyond another tournament for traditional giant CONCACAF.
Olympic prep and showcasing a new generation
“This Gold Cup is great preparation for the Olympics,” American defender Emily Fox said during a recent press conference. “This is the longest we will have spent together as a team [before the Olympics], whole month. So I think for us our focus is on the Gold Cup, on the tournament, and how we can learn from it and prepare for the Olympics.”
While both the United States and Canada have explicitly stated that winning the W Gold Cup is the goal, there is also the added benefit of having an extended period of time to train and participate in official matches just months before Paris 2024. It is worth noting that the 12 women’s soccer will participate in the Olympics, four of which (USA, Canada, Brazil and Colombia) will be in the W Gold Cup.
“It’s a great opportunity to have a major tournament like this that embodies the Olympics and makes us ready for that,” said Lindsay Horan, USA national team captain and midfielder. He added: “What we do here can train us and prepare us mentally for what we might deal with in France, but first and foremost, this is a major tournament in itself and we want to win it.”
For Canadian coach Bev Priestman, it could also help alleviate some of the headaches associated with the roster. “I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to get this to 23.” [player] The list was very difficult and then I tried to get it to 18 [players for the Olympics] — I think some of the principles we used in terms of trying to think about this Gold Cup are about players who can play in multiple positions, and fitness.
“All that stuff about Olympic rosters is going to come into play,” Priestman, who recently extended her coaching contract through 2027, said last month. “We won’t be where we want to be in July by the Gold Cup, but what I hope we can do is continue the positive momentum in terms of what we’ve seen on the pitch. I definitely think we’re here.” “To try to win this thing, but we also have July in mind.”
Through this process, there is also a noteworthy change in guard for both teams that will be tested in the W Gold Cup.
For the United States, 11 members of the list are 25 or younger. In a period of transition under interim coach Twyla Kilgour (before Chelsea Women boss Emma Hayes took over in the summer), and without the likes of veteran goalscorer Alex Morgan or retired legend Megan Rapinoe in the squad, senior roles are up for grabs. .
“It’s just a great opportunity to get on the team and showcase myself,” said Jenna Negsonger, a 23-year-old defenseman who won an NFL title and Rookie of the Year honors in 2023 with New Jersey/New York Gotham. “I think we are clearly aiming for the gold medal in this tournament and every match is looking to help us in the Olympics.”
“The younger girls are very talented. They have a bright future and bring creativity and flair to the court,” American defender Abby Dahlkemper said after a recent training session. “They’re brave and enthusiastic, and they’re adapting well to the group. It’s an exciting time for this team, just seeing the progress the younger players are making.”
Canada is also looking to the influence of younger names. Without the popular Christine Sinclair who retired from international football in late 2023, and with a roster (like the USA) featuring 11 players younger than 25, more youth call-ups will be expected who now have a chance to flourish in the W Gold Cup.
“I’m excited to see people step up and I don’t mean one individual, I mean a group of people now,” Priestman said. “When you have a group of veterans, not just by design by nature, people take that backseat a little bit more, but what I started to see at the end of last year is people taking control a little bit.”
Underdogs from Latin America and the Caribbean
Of course, this tournament is about much more than just the United States and Canada. Going back to the additional matches offered at Concacaf and the continued development of women’s football around the world, long gone are the days when elite teams were able to qualify through competitions.
“From my experience in the national team, the growth of the Caribbean teams and the Latin American teams has been tremendous… in general, I think as a whole, everyone [in women’s soccer] “It’s getting better and better, which is what we like to see,” Fox said. He added: “We saw that in the European Championship and in CONCACAF. [World Cup] Qualifying for us, and then also in the World Cup last year. So I think for us, going into the Gold Cup, we know that every game is going to be a challenge, and a lot of the teams have really amazing individual talent.
This talent is best highlighted by young Colombian phenomenon Linda Caicedo, who was named runner-up in the 2023 FIFA Women’s Player of the Year award. In the same way that she was a standout star at the World Cup when Colombia reached the quarter-finals, other rising names from Latin America and the Caribbean could make a name for themselves in a formal tournament like the W Gold Cup.
“These aren’t friendlies anymore,” Horan said. “It’s a tournament and every team brings a different type of play in the tournament. You’re going to go out to win games, you’re going to go out to get points… These teams are going to make things difficult for us.”
With their recent World Cup experience and promising run on the way to the Concacaf W Gold Cup, Costa Rica and Panama could pose a threat in this tournament. Elsewhere, CONMEBOL-invited players such as Brazil, Argentina and Colombia will not be welcomed after finishing in the top three at the 2022 Women’s Copa America. As for Colombia, no team in the Gold Cup was able to overtake them in the last World Cup.
Canadian Priestman said: “The tournament gives us completely different playing styles, which is great, with regard to the continents and styles within South America and CONCACAF.” “It’s a great test for us.”
Among the emerging teams, Mexico also appears to be the most capable of disrupting the system. Thanks to the appointment of new coach Pedro Lopez, the women’s national team continued its run until 2023 without a single loss in all competitions. One week before the start of the W Gold Cup, and looking to redeem a team that had failed to qualify for the World Cup before his appointment, the Mexico coach provided one of the most noteworthy pre-tournament quotes conveying the confidence of a team that has benefited and grown through the extra matches on the international calendar.
“Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Lopez said when asked about the state of his roster. “In other words, people see the sheep from the outside, but inside there is a wolf that wants to get out and wants to defend itself in front of the whole world.”
Will everything go as planned for the United States and Canada as they hunt for the title and prepare for the Olympics? Will an underdog emerge from the shadows and make a statement in the inaugural women’s tournament?
We’ll start finding out when it all starts on February 20th.
