The U.S. Plays For Gold Cup Hardware
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
After a hyper-dramatic semifinal against Canada, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) will look to cap off their Gold Cup journey with an inaugural tournament win on Monday.
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They take on familiar foe Brazil with a chance to cap off a rollercoaster ride of a tournament.
The USWNT has faced ups and downs in their first games of 2024.
After two comfortable wins over the Dominican Republic and Argentina, the former World Champions suffered a surprise 2-0 loss to regional rivals Mexico.
They bounced back in the quarterfinals against Colombia, earning a 3-0 victory in a chippy match.
They then survived a torrential downpour, extra time, and penalties to advance past Canada 2-2 (3-1).
Brazil has had a more dominant path through the Gold Cup, not suffering a single loss on their way to the final.
After two close 1-0 victories over Puerto Rico and Colombia, Brazil heated up in the attacking third without looking back.
They closed the group stage out with a 5-0 win over Panama, before blowing out Argentina 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
They then wreaked havoc against a dynamic Mexico side, dominating the match 3-0 in the semifinals after Mexico had to play down a player for over 60 minutes due to a red card.
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The USWNT settled on a preferred starting XI in the knockout stages, but many of those players suffered through both a physical quarterfinal and a grueling semifinal without many personnel changes.
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Brazil has had more freedom to rotate their starters, and possibly are going to be approaching the match with fresher legs.
The U.S. will have to make a call whether to lean into the fitness of their substitutes or trust the group that righted the ship after the Mexico loss.
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