CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualification: Favourites Still Invincible

In the final day of Olympic qualifying round robin action, the favourites finished off their perfect record with two more wins. Guatemala humbled the shocking Dominican Republic in the early game but the focus was on the United States and the arch-rival Mexicans, fighting for the top of Group B. The game gave the Americans their sternest challenge yet but was still one-sided as the United States won 4-0 thanks to a Carli Lloyd hat trick.

While Mexico gave the United States more of a test than they've been used to in the first two rounds, the game was still, predominantly, one-way traffic. There was no repeat of the United States' shocking 2010 Gold Cup loss: the game was in their control from the start even though Mexico played hard through the final whistle.

It took until the seventh minute for the Americans to get their early goal this time. An American corner made it through Mexican traffic to defender Rachel Buehler, whose powerful shot smashed off the junction between goalpost and crossbar. The ensuing rebound fell right to an opportunistic Carli Lloyd who had little to do but head the ball past an entirely out-of-position Cecilia Santiago.

Ninety seconds later, the Americans struck again through Heather O'Reilly on another scrambling goal, as Amy Rodriguez caught the ball in a seam between Mexican defenders Alina Garciamendez and Bianca Sierra. Rodriguez's lobbed shot was awkwardly tipped by Santiago straight into O'Reilly's path, who made no mistake.

The crowd, predominantly pro-Mexican, tried to rally their side to get back into it and the Mexicans did at least see the ball. Renowned striker Maribel Dominguez was largely isolated at the top for lack of service, but winger Dinora Garza was a sparkplug throughout the first half and responsible for most of the threats Mexico put on the American back four. But the pressure was only limited, as the Mexicans didn't have enough team skill to beat the American defense, and through ninety minutes they failed to direct a single shot on goal.

The game was 2-0 United States through 45 minutes and nobody realistically thought the Mexicans could get back into it. The naysayers were soon proved correct: in the fifty-seventh minute Lloyd got her second of the game when she nodded down a Lauren Cheney free kick that had only just eluded Abby Wambach. Lloyd then finished the hat trick on eighty-six minutes, putting away a Rachel Buehler set-up from another American corner kick. All three of Lloyd's goals game off of set pieces, reflecting not just excellent American execution but the considerable physical advantages enjoyed by the United States over smaller, younger, and weaker Mexican defenders. Throughout the game, the Mexicans had very short odds of winning any ball in the air: the Americans were just in plain better shape.

The result leaves Mexico facing a tough semi-final against the host Canadians for an Olympic berth, while American fans can start booking plane tickets to London as their semi-final, against Costa Rica, presents no upset threat whatsoever. Both games take place Friday evening.

In the evening's first match, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic faced off with nothing at stake; both teams were eliminated by losses on Sunday and neither had yet scored a goal in the tournament. In spite of conceding thirteen to the United States that day, the Guatemalans remained favourites: they'd been beaten much more narrowly by Mexico, they were higher ranked than the Dominican Republic, and of course in their own game the Dominicans had lost to the United States by a record 14-0.

The Dominicans were certainly the weakest team in the tournament but Guatemala's 6-0 margin was unexpected. In the second minute, Guatemalan captain Wendy Pineda got on the board; capitalizing on one of many Dominican turnovers, Pineda dropped a quick pass to Idania Perez moving down the left with space. Perez crossed back to Pineda loping into the box who right-footed it low past Dominican goalkeeper and captain Heidy Salazar. Three minutes later Pineda struck again with a goal made by superb passing between Pineda, Idania Perez, and Ana Lucia Martinez who had the final pass with a half-volleyed lob right into Pineda's path. Pineda scored from just inside the box.

Maria Monterroso scored in the ninth minute to make it 3-0 Guatemala early. Cinthya Lopez on the left wing hit a long pass towards Monterroso who had no trouble. Five minutes later, another good Monterroso chance was nimbly saved by a leaping Salazar to tip it over the bar. Then, on the 20th minute, Pineda scored her hat trick in gritty style, bull-rushing through Dominican defender Denny Vargas, stumbling, and recovering just in time to get a left-footed shot by Salazar.

Guatemala was passing well, working as a team, and looking far superior to the team that lost to Mexico and was run off the pitch by the United States. However, they were also under essentially no pressure from the Dominican Republic, who looked demoralized and inferior, marking time until they could go home. The Dominican negative tactics, seen throughout the tournament, prevented them from getting anything going while even their luckier chances, like a 67th-minute free kick that eluded every Guatemalan defender, went wanting because of a lack of precision and attention.

In the second half, Guatemala kept coming. Ana Lucia Martinez scored the goal of the game with a sublime piece of footwork; when an attempted Amarilis Lohaiza pass was blocked by Vargas Martinez ranged onto the bouncing ball, overcame her momentum to round a charging Salazar at the last moment, then as she approached the touchline just slid the ball into the open goal. Guatemala had a few chances late, most notably Martinez beating both Denny Vargas and Jocelin Rodriguez on the dribble before thumping a shot off the post in the 89th minute, then finally Monterroso got her second in stoppage time after it seemed Guatemala could do anything but score: a 4-on-1 break led to a block shot, the rebound fell to Martinez who hit the crossbar, the rebound of that landed squarely at Rocio Sosa's foot whose shot was stopped by Salazar, and finally Monterroso recovered the ball and powered a shot home.

There were few negatives for the dominant Guatemalans. After Monterroso was pulled down in the box in the fifty-seventh minute (making rather a hash of a good chance in the process), Pineda stepped up to the spot to look for her fourth but thumped it over (the Guatemalan captain received an ovation when she left in the 73rd minute anyway). The Guatemalans were occasionally vulnerable to long balls due to their fullbacks playing high, which accounted for most of what the Dominican Republic managed to do. But, warts and all, the Guatemalans emerged with a result to be proud of.

While the higher-ranked Canadian and Haitian teams both emerged victorious on the last day of Group A, predictions of a more competitive final set came true as both sides endured at least a token fight from Cuba and Costa Rica.

The biggest news came off the field, as Cuban players Yezenia Gallardo and Yisel Rodriguez apparently defected. Scuttlebutt began when both players were listed as absent on the Cuban roster and it was learned that neither had been seen with the Cuban team since Saturday. CONCACAF released a statement confirming that the players had defected, reportedly at the American border: no further comments were forthcoming. However, it was the story of the game as well as a sore loss for the Cuban team, who got little from Rodriguez but relied upon Gallardo as one of their best players.

Both Haiti and Cuba showed some will to attack. Cuba played a 4-3-3 that was fairly passive but willing to snatch at chances, while the Haitians tried an unconventional 4-4-2 that leaned upon winger Kimberly Boulos and left back Fiorda Charles in free roles to generate offense. As a result, the ball moved on both sides of the pitch in a way we've not been accustomed to with these two teams, but woeful passing accuracy and a tendency to waste possession with outside shots prevented scoring.

On only seven minutes the Cubans managed to split Haiti's defense, with Rachel Pelaez eluding most of the Haitian midfield on a weaving run towards the right-hand side of Haiti's area. Pelaez got overlap through the middle from Maria Isabel Perez who drove in on goal with space and a great opportunity but released a dribbling low shot to Haitian goalkeeper Geralda Saintilus.

The quality of play was not excellent as both teams played chippily and missed too many passes. However, the game kept up a decent pace and a good see-saw back and forth which at least promised entertainment. Haiti had their first good chance on twelve minutes when Manoucheka Pierre-Louis stripped the ball smartly from Dayanay Baro, took a couple quick steps, and unleashed a shot from distance which only just flew over the bar. On twenty-four minutes Sophia Batard, probably Haiti's most consistent danger-woman, caught a good pass from Pierre-Louis and turned around defender Sucel Maceo on the edge of the box to make space. Batard had a right-footed shot at a tight angle which Lucylena Martinez saved well.

Cuba had a good chance in stoppage time, as Rachel Pelaez started a break down the left and suddenly found herself with plenty of time. Jogging in on the Haitian goal as the defenders closed, Pelaez fired a left-footed shot that didn't go far wide. Not long after the half Cuba almost struck again, when an exceptional winding run by Pelaez kept the ball away before beating Carmela Aristilde and, with seemingly nothing but a goal in front of her, muffed a shot which somehow hit goalkeeper Saintilus on the toe of her left boot.

Not long after the hour, Cuba squandered what would prove to be their best opportunity. After a night of errant passing Cuban midfielder Yaremis Fuentes finally found her mark, springing Maria Isabel Perez on a full-blown breakaway. Perez had Haitian defender Roselord Borgella dead to rights but, rather than charge on goal, held up at the top of the box and stopped to change feet, allowing Borgella to catch up and block the ensuing shot.

At last, after two and two-thirds games of frustration, Haiti broke the goose egg. In the seventy-first minute Kimberly Boulos clashed hard with Cuban defender Anay Bombu going for a header in the area: Bombu had nothing in mind but knocking Boulos down and it could have been a penalty. Instead, Haiti got a corner: Manoucheka Pierre-Louis struck a corner low that Wisline Dolce awkwardly headed. The ball bounced straight to the aggrieved Boulos who hammered it into the top of the goal to give Haiti their first of the tournament.

The neutral crowd, getting behind a sentimental favourite, roared its approval and the Haitians kept coming. Five minutes later, Batard went for a run through the centre of the park, beating Cuban defenders Jessica Pupo and Rachel Pelaez before placing a pin-point pass onto the foot of Manoucheka who finished delicately but accurately. Then, in the eighty-third minute, with the crowd still cheering, Nadia Valentin corralled a magnificent through pass down the middle from Dolce and put a light shot just inside the right post, making a heart gesture to the cheering fans.

The match was for nothing more than pride but the convincing and well-earned win will allow Haiti to leave with their heads held high. Haiti was playing in donated equipment and their program was in such difficulty that Canadian fans held fundraisers for the team around Vancouver. They were beaten badly by Canada and then had the most unfair of times against Costa Rica, but in the stereotype of the plucky underdog they were always ready to fight again in the next match. Cuba, whose passivity and failure to finish cost them dearly, is not the most glamorous opponent but, for the Haitians, a win is a win - their first ever in the final round of Olympic qualifying.

Canada, meanwhile, didn't exactly have a hard time against Costa Rica but at least made the game interesting. The Costa Ricans, like every other favoured team in this tournament, had hereto not conceded a goal but that didn't last long. Canada came out thundering, with wide midfielders Sophie Schmidt and Kaylyn Kyle causing 45 minutes of chaos, Kelly Parker traumatizing the Costa Rican defenders, and of course striker Christine Sinclair living up to her billing.

It took only six minutes for Canada to get on the board: a blue-collar effort in the box caused the ball to fall to Sinclair who simply piled it in. Schmidt added her first of the tournament with an accurate close-range header within the game's opening fifteen minutes and the pattern of the first half was set.

Costa Rica, to their credit, did not entirely sit back. Shirley Cruz had one of her better games of the tournament although she was kept tightly in check by defensive midfielder Desiree Scott and central defenders Shannon Woeller and Candace Chapman were under at least sporadic pressure. This just opened up more avenues for Canada's own attack. In the twentieth minute, Sinclair drooped a pass over the Costa Rican defense to Kaylyn Kyle sitting virtually on Julieth Arias's doorstep: Kyle has been jinxed a bit through the first two games but made no mistake and Canada was running away. Sinclair's fourth put another one away just before the half-time whistle to make the game a laugher.

Sadly, the Costa Ricans would not be laughing at the fifth goal: central defender Marianne Ugalde drifted a harmless backpass under no pressure that goalkeeper Arias should have had. Be she traumatized, distracted, or just unlucky, the ball passed between her feet and into the back of the goal for one of the more embarrassing own goals you'd ever see.

With the game won and three substitutes used before the hour Canada sat on their laurels, conserved energy, and waited for the win. This led to what, remarkably, would be a historic moment: with Canada's central defenders dilly-dallying on the ball their time-wasting passes grew careless and Costa Rica intercepted. The ball fell to substitute Fernanda Barrantes who, running with a mission, hammered a splendid half-volley through Karina LeBlanc that silenced the home crowd. It was a meaningless final goal in a 5-1 loss, but it was also the first time the favoured team had conceded through ten games of this tournament.

The results left, as expected, Canada on top of Group A with a 3-0-0 record while Costa Rica finishes second with two wins and one loss. Canada will play the loser and Costa Rica the winner of Tuesday's United States - Mexico match on Friday to determine who advances to the 2012 London Olympics.

In what's become a theme throughout the CONCACAF women's Olympic qualification tournament, neither the United States nor Mexico faced any challenge as the two favorites romped to victory by a combined score of 20-0.

The Dominican Republic once again decisively proved their position as the worst team in this tournament. Playing some sort of 6-2-2 formation, the Dominicans went down 7-0 to a Mexican team that made nine changes from its match against Guatemala and left almost all of its firepower, including star scorer Maribel Dominguez, on the bench. Forward Anisa Guajardo had a second-half hat trick, while the other goals came by a brace from central defender Jennifer Ruiz and singles by Rosario Saucedo and Marylin Diaz.

The game was never close but the Dominicans at least managed to keep the score tied for more than 20 minutes, in spite of some close shaves: in the very first minute Mexico's Chrystal Martinez headed an Arianna Romero cross fractionally over the crossbar. Martinez also had a goal called back offside in the sixth minute as she was just in ahead of the defensive line when she knocked home a rebound.

Finally, Mexico took the lead on twenty-one minutes when midfielder Marilyn Diaz half-volleyed a lovely pass from distance into the stride of Rosario Saucedo running down the left wing. Saucedo cut into the Dominican area and knocked a right-footed shot past diving Dominican goalkeeper Heidy Salazar.

Mexico had been thoroughly dominating the game but, with all the new blood, struggled for chemistry and spent most of the match jogging on autopilot. Offsides, particularly in the first half, were common. The Dominican Republic had lost none of their individualism or their hoof-and-hope mentality from Friday's game against the United States, and as the Mexicans began to find their stride in front of an enthusiastically supportive crowd the beating turned into a rout.

Only six minutes after Mexico's first goal, Dominican defender Yaquesi Nunez hacked down Saucedo from behind in the box with a lunging challenge. It could have been a red card for an intensely cynical challenge but referee Maria Flores awarded only the penalty, which Marylin Diaz duly put just past Salazar's fingertips into the lower right corner.

In the 38th minute Mexico scored the best goal of the match: central defender Jennifer Ruiz was playing forward aggressively and knocked a quality pass to forward Anisa Guajardo running into the box. Guajardo was being tightly marked by Ana Diaz with the ball coming to her outside foot, but Guajardo stepped over the ball and slipped past a befuddled Diaz to retrieve the pass at a tight angle to goal. With her momentum carrying her over the touchline Guajardo then placed a picture-perfect pass onto a running Ruiz's foot, who had nothing to do but easily tuck the goal past Salazar.

With the game 3-0 at half, Mexico really had no work left against the inept Dominican attack but they kept applying pressure. Anisa Guajardo got herself in all the post-game stories with a fine display of second-half scoring: powerfully right-footing an Arianna Romero cross into the top of the net on 49 minutes, an equally powerful header in the 62nd minute which bounced off Salazar's hand, the bottom of the crossbar, and finally the back of the net, and the final goal of the game in the seventy-fifth minute when she slipped a cheeky little right-footer past a thoroughly dejected Salazar.

In the ninetieth minute, Denny Vargas earned the Dominican Republic's second penalty against when she charged substitute Dinora Garza from behind on the edge of the box. It would have been called almost any other time but Flores just waved play on. Garza was uninjured and everyone just wanted this game to be over.

The second game saw the United States come close to breathing a record they set just two days ago by beating Guatemala 13-0. Guatemala had looked almost like they belonged in this tournament and, at times in the early going, they even dared to muster a few offensive rushes against Hope Solo's goal. However, a contentious goal by Abby Wambach where she was close to being offside but outran her mark put the Americans up 1-0 in the thirteenth minute. Wambach struck again almost instantly on a powerful header that goalkeeper Maricruz Lemus got only a fingertip to before the ball bounced off the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net.

From that point on the disspirited Guatemalans largely ceased to make an effort and the United States ran up the score on a hapless minnow in a way that has become familiar to all of us this tournament.

The game itself is of little interest. Amy Rodriguez picked up where she left off against the Dominican Republic, knocking in a fine Wambach set-up in the thirty-first minute. Lauren Cheney scored and set up her opponents in equal measure, while Megan Rapinoe was omnipresent in the attacking half. American fans will focus on the performance of Sydney Leroux who, coming off the bench in the second half, put five goals past the traumatized Guatemalan defense. Leroux's echoing of Amy Rodriguez's five-goal substitute performance against the Dominican Republic was met with disapproval from the few Canadian supporters in attendance, displeased that the Surrey, BC native joined the American national team after representing Canada at the youth levels.

With the Americans running a +27 goal differential through two games (obviously a tournament best), they play the heavy underdogs Mexico on Tuesday to determine the winner of Group B. Meanwhile, after two such decisive defeats Guatemala and the Dominican Republic will play for what I suppose has to be called pride.