By David Gold
January 22 – Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States are all in the semi-finals of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Olympic football women’s qualifiers, with all four winning their first two games of the competition with relative ease at BC Place in Vancouver.
The group stage could not have gone smoother for any of the quartet, in a qualifying campaign so far devoid of surprises.
With a qualifying game left for each side in the group phase, all they have left to play for is position and who will win the two groups.
In Group A, Canada followed up an opening 6-0 win over Haiti with a 2-0 success against Cuba, whilst Costa Rica won both of their games against the same opponents, also by a 2-0 scoreline each time.
The two teams play each other in the final match to decide who finishes top of the group.
They will face the USA and Mexico, who both enjoyed even easier passages through to the final four in Group B.
Losing 2011 World Cup finalists USA scored 27 times without reply in their first two games against the Dominican Republic 14-0 and Guatemala 13-0.
Mexico weren’t quite as emphatic, but still crushed Guatemala 5-0 before defeating the Dominican Republic 7-0.
The group stage so far couldn’t have been more one-sided, with the four teams failing to reach the semi-finals not managing to score a single goal between them.
The final round of games at least gives them a chance to restore some pride following abject performances so far.
Mexico and the USA will play on Tuesday in a replay of the semi-final of the Gold Cup in 2010, when the Mexicans won 2-1 to stun their northern rivals.
That was the first time the USA had failed to reach the final of the tournament, and meant they missed out on last year’s Pan American Games.
Before their clash, Costa Rica and Canada will play on Monday, and a draw would mean the hosts would finish top of the group.
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