Group B Preview: Mexico

Mexico (#22)
Region: Concacaf
Coach: Leonardo Cuellar
How They Qualified: Finished in 2nd Place in Concacaf Region Qualifying.
Prior Cups:
2007: DNQ
2003: DNQ
1999: Group Stage
1995: DNQ
1991: DNQ
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Roster (Average Age: 23.50)

Name	Pos	Club	Age	Caps/Goals
Cecilia Santiago	GK	Laguna	16	11/0
Pamela Tajonar	GK	Atletico Malaga	26	36/0
Erika Vanegas	GK	None	22	13/0
Monica Alvarado	DF	Texas Christian Univ.	20	5/0
Natalie Garcia	DF	Univ of San Diego	21	3/0
Alina Garciamendez	DF	Stanford	20	17/1
Kenti Robles	DF	Espanyol	20	12/0
Rubi Sandoval	DF	None	27	70/5
Luz Saucedo	DF	None	27	91/2
Natalie Vinti	DF	Univ of San Diego	23	20/0
Dinora Garza	MF	Tigres	23	30/9
Juana Lopez	MF	None	32	102/14
Liliana Mercado	MF	UDLA Puebla	22	11/0
Teresa Noyola	MF	Stanford	21	7/0
Nayeli Rangel	MF	Tigres	19	27/3
Guadalupe Worbis	MF	ITESEM Puebla	27	95/22
Charlyn Corral	FW	ITESM Monterey	19	19/3
Maribel Dominguez	FW	L’Estartit	32	90/67
Stephany Mayor	FW	UDLA Puebla	19	16/5
Monica Ocampo	FW	None	24	36/12
Veronica Perez	FW	None	23	23/4

Recent Matches:

Date	Opponent	Competition	Result
6/20/11	Australia	Friendly	L 2-3
6/16/11	Sweden	Friendly	L 0-2
6/5/11	USA	Friendly	L 0-1
5/20/11	Costa Rica	Friendly	W 4-1
5/18/11	Costa Rica	Friendly	W 3-0
4/24/11	Colombia	Friendly	W 4-2
4/22/11	Colombia	Friendly	W 3-2
3/9/11	New Zealand	Cyprus	W 5-0
3/7/11	Northern Ireland	Cyprus	W 3-1
3/4/11	Korea Republic	Cyprus	T 1-1
3/2/11	Russia	Cyprus	T 0-0
12/19/10	Holland	Sao Paulo	L 1-2
12/15/10	Holland	Sao Paulo	L 1-3
12/12/10	Canada	Sao Paulo	L 0-1
12/9/10	Brazil	Sao Paulo	L 0-3
11/8/10	Canada	Concacaf	L 0-1
11/5/10	USA	Concacaf	W 2-1
11/2/10	Canada	Concacaf	L 0-3
10/31/10	Trinidad & Tobago	Concacaf	W 2-0
10/29/10	Guyana	Concacaf	W 7-2
10/21/10	Chinese Taipei	Peace Cup	W 1-0
10/17/10	Australia	Peace Cup	L 1-3

The last time that Mexico played in the Women’s World Cup was in 1999, when it was played in the United States. Maribel Dominguez was a member of that team that lost all three matches in the group stage. Dominguez scored the only goal that Mexico would get in the 1999 World Cup. Now 12 years later, she has seen a Mexican team evolve into one that can truly be competitive against the best in the world.

It’s not just the 2-1 upset that Mexico pulled over the United States in Concacaf Qualifying, although that’s certainly one that made people take notice. They have played very well against several top sides in 2010 and 2011. Most recently, in three friendlies, they lost by one goal the United States, two to Sweden and one to Australia, a match that they led 2-0 35 minutes into the match.

Before that, they swept a pair of matches against Colombia, another World Cup qualifier for 2011. They also performed very well at the Cyprus Cup, earning two wins and two draws, including a 5-0 victory over yet another qualifier New Zealand, a team they will meet again in Group B in Germany. They will not be taken lightly by their opponents anymore.

They’ve upset good teams and played competitive against nearly everyone. Can they take it one level higher? If the cards fall right, they might just make it to the quarterfinals.

While the team has some veterans like Dominguez, Evelyn Lopez, Luz Saucedo, Rubi Sandoval, and Guadalupe Worbis, this team is mostly made up of younger players. They have 14 players that are 23 years old and younger, many of them American college students. Alina Garciamendez, Teresa Noyola, Natalie Garcia, and Monica Alvarado all play college soccer in the US. Natalie Vinti and Veronica Perez recently finished up their college eligibility.

Dominguez is still their best offensive weapon. At age 32, she can still score goals in bunches. She plays very smart and seems to have a good sense of when and how to make her runs at the goal. But the younger generation has come on lately, especially Dinora Garza, Stephany Mayor, and Perez. Nayeli Rangel is another player to watch in the midfield.

Mexico has three solid goalkeeping options to choose from, including veteran Pam Tajonar and Erika Vanegas, who was in goal for the upset over the US. But 16-year old Cecilia Santiago may be the one to watch. She has been very sharp in several of the pre-Cup matches and is probably now considered Mexico’s number one keeper.

With such a young team, the future may be four years away for Mexico to really go deep into the tournament. Still, they have improved rapidly over the past year and they should be very competitive in Group B. They’ve already shown they can beat New Zealand. If they can perhaps get a win and a tie in the group stage, they might make it to the quarterfinals.

Note: Some information for this article was obtained on www.fifa.com and www.femexfut.org.mx.

US Squeaks Past Mexico 1-0

It took nearly 92 minutes, but Lauren Cheney's strike gave the United States a 1-0 victory over Mexico. The goal came in spite of a brilliant effort by 16 year old goalkeeper Celia Santiago.

The United States dominated almost from the opening whistle, unlike the match last November where Mexico took it to the US early in the match. But a combination of missed opportunities and some great saves by the Mexican teenager kept the United States off the scoreboard until second half stoppage time.

The winning goal started with Heather O'Reilly's long pass up the center of the field to Abby Wambach who received the ball 10 yards outside of the penalty area. She dropped the ball back to Cheney, who worked her way to her right before releasing a blistering shot from 30 yards out into the upper left corner of the net, just beyond the outstretched arms of Santiago.

The United States outshot Mexico 34-4 for the match, but far too many of those were not on frame. They still put enough on goal to keep Santiago busy for most of the match. The US thought they surely had a goal in the 70th minute when Stephanie Cox sent a perfect pass to a cutting Carli Lloyd. Lloyd's shot had good pace and was heading just inside the near post before Santiago was able to reach out and deflect the ball away at the last possible moment.

Mexico found it very hard to muster any kind of an attack, unlike the Concacaf semifinal when they were consistently able to find space between the US defense. The US passing game was much improved from their two recent matches with Japan. Mexico did show some improvement in the attack later in the match, but were unable to produce any chances beyond a few shots from distance.

Hope Solo got the shutout for the United States, but was tested with very few chances.

Heather Mitts, who has been suffering from injuries for most of the past few months, saw her first action in the second half. It was later confirmed that Mitts will keep her roster spot for the World Cup.

The United States will next head to Austria for training camp before arriving in Germany for their first round match on June 28.

Before the match, Kristine Lilly was honored for her extraordinary USWNT career, which include 352 caps and 130 goals.

US Set To Meet Mexico

The USWNT will meet Mexico in final preparation for the 2011 World Cup today in Harrison, New Jersey.

While this game is a friendly, what happened seven months ago today will not be lost among the players taking the field this afternoon. The United States, then considered a shoe-in for one of the two automatic Concacaf WC positions faced Mexico on November 5. Most people thought the US would win and it would be Mexico that would face Costa Rica and then Italy for a shot at the final World Cup position.

Well, that's not what happened. Mexico outplayed the US on that day and won 2-1, later losing a close match in the Concacaf finals to Canada, while it was the United States that had to sweat out three more matches to qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

Mexico has been quite the busy team since then. After the Concacaf qualifiers, they played a tough tournament in Sao Paulo, in which they faced the host team Brazil, Canada, and Holland twice. While they lost all four matches, it was against top flight competition and Mexico served notice that they could at least be competitive.

Mexico followed that with a 2-0-2 record at the Cyprus Cup and were unbeaten in four friendlies facing Costa Rica and Colombia each twice. So they have a 6-0-2 record in 2011.

The United States has been up and down. They won at Algarve, but lost to Sweden at the Four Nations in China. They also were beaten in a friendly with England. They recently defeated Japan twice, once looking rather mediocre and the other match looking quite good at times.

The US does not have anymore "official" matches on the schedule, although there are likely to be unofficial scrimmages after they leave for Europe. Mexico has friendlies scheduled against both Sweden and Australia just prior to the start of the World Cup.

It will be interesting to see how the US chooses to attack Mexico, since they did not look very good in the last contest between the two teams. Meanwhile, Maribel Dominguez was able to expose the US back line at times throughout the match.

These two sides are very familiar with each other, not only from friendlies between them, but also because several members of Mexico's roster played college soccer here in the US, including Teresa Noyola, Alina Garciamendez, and Veronica Perez.

Pia Sundhage has approached the final preparation games just as she would a World Cup game, making few changes in her starting lineup. Mexican coach Leonardo Cuellar is still experimenting trying to find the right combinations he wants to use in Germany.

In spite of it being a friendly, the rematch of the Concacaf semifinal match should make for some compelling soccer today at Red Bull Arena.

International Results May 19-21

May 19
Norway 5 (Thorsnes 3, Pedersen 2), Finland 1 (Rantanen)

May 20
Mexico 4 (Garza 2, Dominguez 2), Costa Rica 1 (K. Venegas)
China 1 (Ma Jun), New Zealand 0

May 21
Germany 2 (Kulig-pk, Okoyino da Mbabi), Korea DPR 0

Canada and Holland Advance To Cyprus Cup Final

Canada won their third straight match at the Cyprus Cup with a 2-0 victory over England in Group A. For Canada, it was their third shutout, this one by Erin McLeod. It was a battle between the world's 9th and 10th ranked teams.

After most of the first half went by scoreless, Christine Sinclair scored on a rebound of Diana Matheson's shot giving the Canadians a 1-0 edge. Halftime substitution Brittany Timko made it 2-0 just ten minutes into the second half. Most of the second half of the match was played in fairly heavy rainfall.

Hope Powell's squad saw massive changes from Friday's match, with Canada also inserting new blood into the lineup.

For Canada, the victory continues an impressive run of soccer dating back to last September. They are 13 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws over that time. Canada will face Holland, ranked 15th in the world, in the final on Wednesday.

Scotland 0, Italy 0

Scotland and Italy played to a scoreless draw on Monday. It was enough for Scotland to finish in second place in Group A, just one point ahead of England.

It looked like Scotland might win the game late as they were awarded a penalty with just 10 minutes remaining in the match, but Chiara Marchitelli stopped Kim Little's penalty attempt to preserve the tie. Gemma Fay earned the shutout for the Scots.

Holland 6, Switzerland 0

Holland easily defeated Switzerland 6-0 and will play in the championship match against Canada. They were led by a Kirsten van de Ven hat trick and a Chantel de Ridder brace. The Swiss fell behind 2-0 in the first six minutes and never seriously threatened to make it a match.

Holland will now face Canada, a team they lost to by a 5-0 margin at the Torneia Internacional Cidade de Sao Paulo in December.

France 5, New Zealand 2

Marie-Laure Delie scored three times to lead France to a 5-2 victory over New Zealand. Delie scored twice in the first half to give her team a 3-2 lead at the break, after France had fallen behind in the game's opening minutes on an own goal.

Eugenie Le Sommer and Elise Bussaglia added goals for France, while Anna Green scored directly on a corner kick for the Ferns.

Because of their loss to Holland, France settles for a 3rd place match up against Scotland, while New Zealand will meet Mexico, in what should be an interesting 7th place match of two teams headed for the World Cup in June.

Mexico 3, Northern Ireland 1

Mexico was able to finish the Cyprus Cup group stage unbeaten with a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland. However, the Mexicans still fell short of South Korea, who won Group C.

Maribel Dominguez opened the scoring in the 32nd minute on a penalty after Charlyn Corral had been fouled in the box. Corral scored just minutes later to make it 2-0 by halftime.

Northern Ireland cut the lead to one as Rachel Furness headed one home early in the 2nd half. Nancy Gandarilla scored for Mexico late in the match for the final tally. Gandarilla was making her debut for Mexico.

South Korea 2, Russia 1

Ji So-Yun and Yeo Min-Ji scored to lead South Korea to a 2-1 victory over Russia. Ji's goal came in the opening minutes of the match. South Korea led 1-0 at the half.

Russia briefly tied the score in the 77th minute on a goal by Ekaterina Sochneva, but the Koreans quickly answered with Yeo's goal just a minute later for the game winner.

Final Group Standings:
Group A: Canada 3-0-0, 9 pts; Scotland 1-1-1, 4 pts; England 1-2-0, 3 pts; Italy 0-2-1, 1 pt.
Group B: Holland 3-0-0, 9 pts; France 2-1-0, 6 pts; New Zealand 1-2-0, 3 pts; Switzerland 0-3-0, 0 pts.
Group C: South Korea 2-0-1, 7 pts; Mexico 1-0-2, 5 pts; Russia 1-1-1, 4 pts; Northern Ireland 0-3-0, 0 pts.

Finals Day Matches:
Championship: Canada vs. Holland
3rd/4th Place: Scotland vs. France
5th/6th Place: England vs. South Korea
7th/8th Place: New Zealand vs. Mexico
9th/10th Place: Italy vs. Russia
11th/12th Place: Switzerland vs. Northern Ireland

Scotland and Holland Post Upsets at Cyprus Cup

Upsets were the order of the day at the Cyprus Cup. Scotland were able to shut out England by a 2-0 margin, while France was beaten by Holland 2-1. Canada won their second straight 1-0 shutout, this time over Italy.

Scotland 2, England 0

The Scots got their two goals from Arsenal Ladies players Jennifer Beattie and Kim Little to post a 2-0 victory over neighboring England on Friday. It was the first victory for Scotland against England in over 30 years.

Although it must be noted that England's best player, Kelly Smith, did not play in the match, it was still an impressive victory for Scotland.

Beattie, normally a defender, was moved forward in this match and it paid off handsomely for coach Anna Signeul. In addition to her goal, she also earned an assist on Little's goal in the 1st half.

Shannon Lynn picked up the shutout for Scotland, while a stout Scottish defense helped Lynn keep England off of the scoreboard.

Scotland will now face Italy on Monday, still with an outside chance to win Group A. They need help from England over Canada and then need to win their match by a greater margin.

Canada 1, Italy 0

Canada continued a pattern of strong performances, knocking off Italy 1-0. Young Jonelle Filigno scored the game's only goal, assisted by Christine Sinclair. Italy came close on a few occasions in the second half, but were unable to draw even.

Filigno, who is just 20 years old, scored her sixth career goal as member of the Canadian National Team.

Stephanie Labbé earned a shutout for the Canadians, who have not surrendered a goal in either match at Cyprus.

Canada will now face England on Monday, needing just a tie or a win to secure first place in Group A. Italy will play Scotland in their final Group A match.

Holland 2, France 1

Holland posted a 2-1 upset win over France in Group B action at the Cyprus Cup. Renee Slegers and Manon Melis scored for the victors. Camille Abily scored for France.

The victory over the 8th ranked team in the world puts Holland into the championship match next Wednesday. They will face Switzerland on Monday. France will play New Zealand to decide who finishes in second place for Group B.

New Zealand 2, Switzerland 1

The Football Ferns posted their first win at the Cyprus Cup, with a 2-1 win over Switzerland. New Zealand scored two late first half goals, one by Kirsty Yallop, the other by Betsy Hassett and took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Sandy Maendly scored a late goal for Switzerland to close within one, but New Zealand was able to finish with the win. Jenny Bindon got the victory in goal for New Zealand.

New Zealand will now face France on Monday with a chance to finish second in Group B.

Russia 2, Northern Ireland 1

After falling behind early, Russia was able to post a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland.

Ashley Hutton scored her second goal of the tournament to give Northern Ireland a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute. Tatiana Skotnikova answered to tie the score just before halftime. Elena Fomina converted a penalty in the 51st minute to give Russia the lead. A game Northern Ireland squad was unable to equalize.

Russia and South Korea both will enter the final contest with a win and a draw, with the two teams facing each other on Monday. Mexico has posted two ties and still has a chance should they defeat Northern Ireland and the other two teams tie.

Mexico 1, South Korea 1

For the second straight match, Mexico played to a draw, a 1-1 tie with South Korea. Jeon Ga-Eul scored in the 15th minute to give South Korea the early lead. Mexico got the tying goal in the 2nd half with Dinora Garza scoring on a free kick.

Mexico played the last 26 minutes of the match a player short, as Nayeli Rangel received a second yellow card. Erika Vanegas and the Mexican defense were able to keep South Korea off the board for the remainder of the match.

Mexico will face Northern Ireland on Monday and can still finish anywhere from first to fourth depending on the results of the two Group C matches. South Korea can win Group C with a victory against Russia.

Canada Edges Mexico 1-0 in Concacaf Final; US To Play Italy

Christine Sinclair's penalty kick early in the 2nd half turned out to be the game winner as Canada defeated Mexico 1-0 in the Concacaf final in Cancun, Mexico. In spite of a brave effort by the home team and great support from their home crowd, the Mexican side were unable to repeat their magic from Friday night's victory over the US in the semifinals.

The hero of Friday night, Veronica Perez, was ejected for an intentional hand ball in the box, which led to the penalty kick. The Canadians, who had held the better of play to that point, were able to control possession for much of 2nd half with the player advantage, allowing only a couple of chances for Mexico in the closing stages of the match.

Karina LeBlanc, who played last season for the Philadelphia Independence, earned the shutout for the Canadians. Canada was able to blank Mexico for the second time in the tournament, having defeated them 3-0 in the group stage less than a week earlier. Canada outscored their opponents by a 17-0 for their five matches in the tournament.

Both Canada and Mexico will advance to the 2011 World Cup which will be played in Germany next June and July.

US 3, Costa Rica 0

It wasn't necessarily pretty, but the USWNT was able to get the job done in a must win situation, defeating Costa Rica 3-0. Abby Wambach's brace was the highlight of the match for the US.

US coach Pia Sundhage inserted Lori Lindsey, Ali Krieger, and Lauren Cheney into the lineup for this match following Friday night's disappointing effort.

Cheney put her team up 1-0 in the opening stanza, on a deflected shot that eluded Costa Rican goalkeeper, Dinnia Diaz. Lori Lindsey had possession on the left side of the box and passed back across the middle to Cheney, who was able to work her way free for the shot from 15 yards. Diaz appeared to have the shot covered, but it deflected off the inside of a defender's legs and went behind Diaz who was moving in the opposite direction.

Abby Wambach made it 2-0 on the goal of the match. Lori Lindsey sent the ball from 35 yards out into the penalty area. Wambach slipped behind the defense and volleyed the ball beautifully into the left corner of the net.

At the start of the 2nd half, Costa Rica nearly cut the lead to one. A breakdown in the US defense saw Monica Malvassi get in alone on Nicole Barnhart, but her weak shot hit the left post and was cleared easily. On the counterattack, Cheney pushed the ball out to Abby Wambach, who had gotten clear at the extreme right side of the penalty area. Wambach sent the ball low past Diaz inside the far post to make it 3-0.

The US will now face Italy in a home-and-home playoff for the final World Cup berth. The US will travel to Padua (Padova), Italy for a November 20 match. The Italians will then travel to Chicago to face the US at Toyota Park on November 27.

Some information for this story was obtained through the Official Concacaf Website.

MEXICO UPSETS US in World Cup Qualifying 2-1

A game Mexican squad, playing in front of a boisterous home crowd, upset the USWNT 2-1 tonight in Cancun, Mexico. For most of the evening, the underdog Mexicans outhustled and outplayed a US team that hadn't lost since a penalty kick decision at the 2009 Algarve Cup to Sweden.

Mexico had their foot on the gas peddle from the opening whistle, catching a sluggish looking US squad back on their heels. They struck first in the 3rd minute on a set piece. A long free kick was sent forward and Nayeli Rangel headed the ball toward the goal. Mexican star Maribel Dominguez slipped behind the defense and chipped the ball neatly over Nicole Barnhart's head for a 1-0 lead.

The US equalized in the 25th minute. A corner kick came loose in the box after Mexican goalkeeper Erika Vanegas was unable to handle it. Carli Lloyd slotted the loose ball into the net to knot the score at one.

It was only a minute later, however, that Mexico regained the lead. A high cross was sent into the box and former Saint Louis Athletica developmental player, Veronica Perez, headed it home past Barnhart.

The rest of the half saw the US often resorting to long passes and ill-advised shots, none of which came remotely close to scoring. Mexico headed into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. Little did anyone realize that there would be no more scoring.

The US would get very few good opportunities during the match. While they controlled the pace of the match much better in the 2nd half, the Mexican defense was more than up to the task, keeping most of the pressure away from their keeper. The Mexican team looked surprisingly poised compared to the far greater experienced USWNT. A frustrated US side was very ragged with their passing game and from a defensive standpoint, resorted to shirt-tugging all too often.

Perhaps the best chance for the US came well into the 2nd half as Alex Morgan corralled a loose ball off of a corner and turned with a hard shot that went right into the gut of Vanegas.

In stoppage time, Abby Wambach collided with Kenti Robles on a header that left both women bleeding, with blood gushing from Wambach's head. She got taped up, but the 4th official was unable to get the head referee's attention and Wambach was never able to rejoin the match.

A joyous Mexican crowd counted down the seconds to victory and the closing whistle set off quite the celebration. Mexico will now face Canada for the Concacaf championship, although both teams have already qualified for the World Cup. Canada broke open a close game late to win by a 4-0 margin over Costa Rica. Canadian goals were scored by Josee Belanger, Jonelle Foligno, Christine Sinclair, with a fourth coming on an own goal in stoppage time.

As for the US, the road just got a lot more difficult. They must now defeat Costa Rica once again in the 3rd place match. If they win that, they would face Italy in a home-and-home on November 20 and 27 for the final World Cup berth. Italy finished in 5th place in UEFA qualifying.

Kicking in a Winter Wonderland - USWNT 1, Mexico 0

Playing in a snowstorm in Rio Tinto Stadium, the USWNT defeated Mexico 1-0 in an international friendly played this evening. Abby Wambach scored the 2nd half goal in the 60th minute on a low cross from Shannon Boxx. The play started with Kristine Lilly making a nice touch to free Boxx on the left side of the penalty area. She drew the goalkeeper to the near post and sent the ball across to a charging Wambach who easily finished. It was Wambach's 105th international goal. Perhaps even more amusing was the goal celebration, which saw Wambach, Boxx, and teammates doing snow angels before a courageous Sandy, Utah crowd.

Snow accumulated over most of the field, although the penalties areas were somewhat cleared before each half. The US outshot Mexico 20-4 for the match in very difficult playing conditions. The game saw Brittany Taylor and Alex Morgan pick up their first caps, and Kelley O'Hara her second after debuting on Sunday in the US 3-0 victory over Mexico. Nicole Barnhart got the shutout for the US.

USWNT Squad Announced for Friendlies vs. Mexico

Pia Sundhage has announced her 24 player squad for a pair of friendlies to be played later this month against Mexico. And once again, there are a lot of new faces, as well as the return of one very familiar face.

New additions to the team include defenders Whitney Engen (UNC, Chicago Red Stars), Brittany Taylor (Connecticut, Sky Blue FC), and forwards Kelley O'Hara (Stanford, FC Gold Pride) and Alex Morgan (California). Morgan is the only non-WPS player on the team. Additionally, Jill Loyden who was on the Algarve squad, but hasn't gotten her first cap yet, was named as one of three keepers for the matches against Mexico.

Fans will also welcome the return of veteran Kristine Lilly to the USWNT. Lilly is the most capped player in history with 342 and returns to the team for the first time since late 2008.

The US will play Mexico on March 28 at Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego and on March 31 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The last time the US played in San Diego was the match immediately preceding the 2008 Olympics when Abby Wambach broke her leg in a friendly against Brazil.