Four nations battled on Friday for three medals. On one of the corners was Mexico and the USWNT U-19 and in the other, Chile and Argentina. At the end of each 90 minutes, the North Americans were the victors.
USWNT U-19 vs Argentina
This was the second time these teams played each other in the tournament, with the U.S. beating the South Americans 4-0 in the group phase.
In this game, the Argentinians showed a better defensive game, but when it was time for them to thread an attack, they usually fell short. Despite the organization Argentina showed defensively, the U.S. broke them down after 30 minutes. A long ball that couldn’t be controlled by the Argentines granted possession to the U.S., and Amalia Villarreal ended up beating goalkeeper Vanina Correa.
After that and only seven minutes later, the U-19s doubled the lead when captain Claire Hutton shot from downtown and scored a screamer. Props to Gisele Thompson for creating some space for Hutton after dragging defenders after her.
The second half wasn’t pretty for any team, with them not being able to complete their passes and losing balls easily. Argentina was in a hurry to score at least one goal, and that hastiness didn’t do them any favors.
As a result, the score didn’t change, and the USWNT U-19 secured the bronze medal. There’s no doubt that U.S. Soccer has good material to work with. The youngest squad in the tournament lost only one game and looked solid against senior national teams.
Chile vs México
In the middle of much off-the-field controversy, Chile hosted El Tri Femenil in the game for the gold medal.
Due to poor management from the ANFP, neither star goalkeeper ‘Tiane’ Endler nor second goalkeeper Antonia Canales were available to play in the big final. That meant Chile had to put a field player on goal and hope for the best.
It was good to see that despite the shortage in the roster, the home team showed a lot of grit on the field; the sole goal of Rebeca Bernal for Mexico made the difference in the score. The designated Chilean goalkeeper for this game, María José Urrutia, did well.
Of course, she had some nervy moments at the beginning, but after hearing the fans cheering every time she touched the ball and with the support of her teammates, Urrutia grew in confidence and made some good saves during the 90 minutes of the game.
It was an uncomfortable match for both teams, and although Mexico had some advantage over the Chileans, it couldn’t be reflected in the score. If it hadn’t been for the brilliance of Bernal, who knows what would’ve happened in the end.
After the goal, Mexico created more opportunities. but despite their eight shots on goal, Urrutia did well stopping some shots with her feet. On the other hand, Esthefanny Barreras didn’t have much work to do, since Chile only had two shots and only one of them was on goal.
As a result, at the end of the 90 minutes, Mexico won the gold medal—their first.