United States women's national team interim coach Twila Kilgore declared her team “no longer facing easy games” after a surprising 2-0 loss to rival Mexico in a Cup group stage clash Concacaf Gold W on Monday.
“It just shows how far the game is coming and there are no easy games anymore,” Kilgore said after the USWNT's first loss to Mexico since 2010. “If we don't take care of business and we don't execute, this is what it's like.” Wait and we'll step up and take responsibility for that.”
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It was only Mexico's second victory over the USWNT and comes after a disappointing run at last summer's Women's World Cup that resulted in the United States' elimination in the round of 16. Since Kilgore took over as interim coach after the World Cup, the USWNT went undefeated through eight games until the loss to Mexico.
Heading into the match, the United States had a lopsided lead in the Concacaf rivalry with a record of 40-1-1.
Monday's result meant Mexico topped Group A with seven points, while the USWNT finished second with six points. Argentina finished third with four points and the Dominican Republic was last with zero points.
“I think they had a good game plan, I think we had a good game plan and they just executed theirs better than ours,” Kilgore said. “Part of it has to do with intensity, but generally you can measure it by things like tempo on the ball, but also defensive aspects like winning first innings and second balls.”
Both of Mexico's goals, scored by Lizbeth Ovalle and Mayra Pelayo, came on restarts, an area Kilgore said her team must improve.
“The first goal came from a goal kick and [we] “He probably should have taken care of the first ball, he should have taken care of the second ball, he had a chance to finish the game and then he didn't, and then the second goal came from a throw-in,” Kilgore said.
Mexico coach Pedro López remains unbeaten in all competitions since 2023 and said Monday's result was the best he has achieved since taking over in September 2022.
“I guess so because of the opponent,” Lopez said. “I loved the [8-0] I liked the Dominican Republic game a lot, but of course doing it against the United States is special.”
Lopez described his team as a “wolf in sheep's clothing” before the tournament and said he still wants more.
“Clearly that wolf was seen today,” he said. “But I insist that it would be of no use to us if in the next game we lost the [W Gold Cup] quarterfinals and we go down in history as the team that only beat the United States one day.
Both Mexico and the USWNT have qualified for the quarterfinals of the inaugural W Gold Cup, but will have to wait for the final results of Group B on Tuesday and Group C on Wednesday to find out their next opponents. After Wednesday, the two best teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16.
Following the quarterfinals at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on March 2 and 3, the semifinals and final will take place at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego on March 6 and 10, respectively.
After the tournament and later this spring, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes will take charge of the USWNT.
