Sunday Oct. 22nd marked the start of the women’s soccer action at the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023. This tournament means different things for each national team, and the first day of competitions showed it.
Mexico vs Jamaica (7-0)
The Tri Femenil smashed the Reggae Girlz in their 2023 Pan American debut. The Caribbean team’s situation could be better, with their main players going on strike due to the poor treatment by their federation. Ergo, the JFF decided to send a B-team to represent the country.
On the other hand, Mexico is maybe the only national team that has sent their A-team to this competition. They are rebuilding their national team from the ashes after not qualifying for the two last World Cups—despite the quality of their roster. For Mexico, there are no small tournaments nowadays; they’re trying to use every opportunity they have to prepare for what’s coming next.
Among the squad are the Houston Dash players María Sánchez and Diana Ordóñez. Angel City’s Scarlett Camberos was called up as well but wasn’t available for the first match.
As it was expected, the game was heavily inclined toward the Mexican side. The Dash connection worked pretty well when at minute 12′, Ordóñez assisted Sánchez, who scored with a header. Both kept knocking on Jamaica’s door, and they teamed up with Jacqueline Ovalle to terrorize Chris-Ann Chambers’ goal.
In the 35th minute, the Reggae Girlz’s defense made a terrible mistake when preventing Pachuca’s Karla Nieto shooting. Both the defender and goalie thought the ball was going out, but Nieto didn’t give up and tapped the ball near the post to make it past Chambers.
The first half finished with one more goal from the Mexicans. This time, Kiana Palacios was the goal scorer when she connected with a low cross sent to the middle of the box.
Head coach Pedro López moved the bench a little at halftime and then some more after that, putting Karina Rodríguez, Charlyn Corral, Greta Espinoza, and Licha Cervantes on the field.
It didn’t take much more time for Ordóñez to score. She had some good chances in the first half but couldn’t put the ball against the back of the net. In the 58th minute, she did it. Cervantes tallied next, after an assist by Corral. Corral registered another assist in minute 75’, this time for Sánchez’s second goal of the day. The beating finished with Corral scoring from the penalty spot in the 85th minute.
El Tri Femenil could’ve bagged more goals, for sure. Jamaica didn’t play well at all, and the score was a reflection of how the game went. For Jamaica, the match was characterized by poor first touches, unclear ideas in the attack, and inexperience when defending. Of course, this isn’t on the players. That the JFF released the roster for the Pan American games one day before the competition began says as much. They didn’t have time to prepare properly to face one of the few national teams that went all in for this competition.
Chile vs Paraguay (1-0)
The fans at Elías Figueroa Stadium brought all the noise they could to support the debut of their national team against the always-tough Albirroja.
Although Chile was on the front foot in the first half and created many chances, they were missing those one or two final touches. Fernanda Pinilla had a great match; the left-back contributed a lot to the attack and also had a good defensive game, winning balls and making tackles.
Despite the Chileans’ domination, Paraguay had fast and skillful players who created many problems for them. Two of them were Jessica Martínez and Romana Martínez. The duo won many free kicks in dangerous areas, but poor executions left them empty-handed at the end of the 90 minutes.
Daniela Zamora opened the score for Chile in the 24th minute. Although the home team created more chances, that was the only one they could put away.
The second half got physical, and the game was stopped many times. The home crowd clearly didn’t like the referee’s decisions, and their national team had to be focused in the final 45 minutes when the emotions were running high. None of the teams could keep hold of the ball in the second half, and Paraguay’s intentions got diluted in the hecticness of the match.
Frustration led the Paraguayans to try solo efforts that ended up in nothing. Chile played smart defending but of course, the visitors were going to have at least one chance to put the ball away. And it was J. Martínez who ended up in a one-v-one with goalkeeper Tiane Endler. J. Martínez beat Endler and fired. When everybody thought she was going the score the equalizer and be the heroine for her team, the ball went out, kissing the post.
USWNT U-19 vs Bolivia (6-0)
After Venezuela decided to decline participation in the tournament, Bolivia took its place against a USA team that is back in a Pan American competition after 16 years.
Their opening match was strong, beating the South American side with half a dozen goals. Forward Ava McDonald was on fire and scored a hat trick, Amalia Villarreal netted a brace, and Emery Adames also scored.
Despite the North Americans’ lack of experience against senior teams, they started this tournament with flying colors. Bolivia is the weakest team in CONMEBOL and in this competition, but we have to take into account that this was a senior team facing a U-19 team.
Argentina vs Costa Rica (0-0)
In the last game of the day, neither team could make any difference in the score and finished the match nil-nil.
It’s important to say that this tournament marks a new era for both of these national teams. Argentina doesn’t have Estefanía Banini or Florencia Bonsegundo in the squad, after both announced their international retirement following the 2023 World Cup. The South Americans will have to learn to play without the two main playmakers of the team.
On the other hand, Costa Rica let former head coach Amelia Valverde go and designated the Spaniard and former Dominican Republic head coach Beni Rubido as the new team manager. The match against Argentina marked his debut in such a position.
This Costa Rican roster is also without Rocky Rodríguez and Priscilla Chinchilla among them, so key players are missing for the Ticas in this tournament.