CONCACAF | Canadians lose in U-20 semi-finals

(Santo Domingo) Mexico defeated Canada 1-0 in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Soccer Championship on Thursday. This means that the Canadians will absolutely have to defeat Puerto Rico on Saturday to clinch third place and their qualification for the Under-20 World Cup.

Before reaching the semi-finals, the Canadians had outscored their opponents 30-0, signing five consecutive victories.

Thanks to their victory in the semi-finals, Mexico will rub shoulders with the defending champions of the tournament, the Americans. Saturday’s duel will feature two opponents with 6-0-0 records in the tournament.

This CONCACAF competition aims to determine the identity of the three teams that will join the host nation, Costa Rica, as representatives of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Women’s Under-20 World Cup will take place in August.

It was captain Anette Vazquez who launched Mexico forward by scoring in the 27th^and minute of play. Natalia Mauleon served a cross pass to Alexia Villanueva in the penalty area. The latter cushioned the ball with her chest then centered a lob pass that Vasquez turned into a paying volley.

This goal was scored on the only shot on target from both teams in the first half.

In the final minutes of the game, Canada put a lot of pressure on the Mexican defense, but they didn’t give up even during the six minutes of added time.

At the 92^and minute, a Mexican player tripped Holly Ward just outside the penalty area. Canada got a jab that offered a golden scoring opportunity, but Zoe Burns’ shot hit the horizontal bar of the net. Then, at the 95^and minute, a Ward header just missed the mark.

Americans win

Earlier in the day, USA earned their ticket to the final by easily beating Puerto Rico 7-0. This is the same result as in the previous preliminary round meeting between the two teams.

The Americans dominated the entire game, firing 38 shots to the Puerto Ricans’ one. In terms of shots on target, the numbers indicate 21 for the United States against zero.