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SAN DIEGO — The U.S. women's national soccer team will face Brazil in the final of the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup Sunday at Snapdragon Stadium, seeking to complete its redemption from a recent upset loss to Mexico.
Since their 2-0 loss to Mexico Feb. 26 to conclude group stage play that theoretically gave it a tougher path to the final, the Americans have defeated Colombia, 3-0, in a quarterfinal last Sunday and won a penalty kick shootout against Canada, 3-1, in a semifinal Wednesday after overtime ended in a 2-2 tie. "We're prepared to step onto the field and impose ourselves in the ways that we want to," U.S. interim coach Twila Kilgore said Saturday. Brazil is among four guest teams from South America participating in what soccer's governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean calls its"flagship women's international competition." Brazil advanced to the final thanks to a 3-0 victory over Mexico in a semifinal Wednesday game the Mexicans had to play one player short after defender Nicki Hernandez received a red card in the 29th minute for a denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity foul when Brazil led 1-0.The U.S. has three victories, one loss and the shootout victory over Canada which is officially considered a tie. The Americans have outscored their opponents, 14-4. The U.S. leads the series against Brazil, 31-3-5, including victories in each of the last six games. Eight of the last nine games have been decided by two goals or fewer, including the most-recent meeting, a 2-1 victory by the Americans Feb. 22, 2023, in the SheBelieves Cup with Ludmila scoring on a header in the 90th minute for the Brazilians. "Our matches with Brazil have always been entertaining to say the least, full of challenges," said Kilgore, who is coaching the team while Emma Hayes completes her contract with Chelsea FC of England's Women's Super League. "We're ready to put on the type of things that are needed to make sure that it's a great battle first and foremost and secondly attempt to play in the areas that we feel that we want to play in and make sure that we are in control of the things that we desire to be in control of." The U.S. is second behind 2023 Women's World Cup champion Spain in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer's worldwide governing body. Brazil is ranked 11th. Brazil failed to advance past the group stage of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup while the U.S. was eliminated in the round of 16 on penalty kicks against Sweden, 5-4, after overtime ended 0-0. The U.S. roster includes four players from San Diego Wave FC -- forwards Jaedyn Shaw and Alex Morgan and defenders Abby Dahlkemper and Naomi Girma. Shaw leads the team with four goals. When the 19-year-old opened the scoring in the 20th minute against Canada Wednesday she became the first player in U.S. women's national team history to score in each of her first four starts. Morgan has two goals and an assist. She was not selected for the original 23-player roster but added Feb. 20, one day after forward Mia Fishel tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during training. All but three of the players on the U.S. roster play in the National Women's Soccer League. The exceptions are midfielders Lindsey Horan, who plays for Lyon of France's Division 1 Féminine, and Korbin Albert, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, also of France's Division 1 Féminine, and defender Emily Fox, who plays for Arsenal FC of England's Women's Super League. Brazil's roster consists of 12 players who play for club teams in Brazil, seven in the NWSL, three in Spain and one in England. Brazilian midfielder Julia Bianchi is a teammate of U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher on the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars. Close to 30,000 tickets have been sold, CONCACAF announced early Saturday evening. A limited number of tickets are available at Concacaf.com/WGoldCup. The stadium's capacity is 35,000. The 5:15 p.m. game will be broadcast in English by Paramount+ and in Spanish by ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
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