2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Happening In Texas

While I have been busy with other events, on opposite ends of 1-45 we have had eight CONCACAF women's teams battling to get the two spots available from our FIFA region for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games women's tournament.

The tournament started on February 10 with the Group A teams, the USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Costa Rica playing their games at Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, TX while the Group B teams Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Guatemala started a day later at BBVA Compass Stadium here in Houston.

Team USA got their Olympic qualifying campaign off to a flying start with a 5-0 win over Costa Rica as Carli Lloyd scored the first of her two goals just one minute into the game to get the USA off to a 3-0 halftime lead in a match they never trailed in as Mexico was thumping Puerto Rico 6-0.

That set up a crucial clash on February 13 in which the USA prevailed 1-0 over Mexico thanks to the game winning goal from Carli Lloyd in the 80th minute on a penalty kick while Costa Rica recovered from their loss to the USA by spanking Puerto Rico 9-0.

The win also gave the USA the top spot in Group A with two wins and a +6 goal differential.

Yesterday Group A play concluded with the USA clinching the group and their trip to the semis here in Houston with a 10-0 win over Puerto Rico in which Crystal Dunn scored five goals.

In the battle between two 2015 World Cup squads to determine the runner up in the group, Costa Rica prevailed 2-1 in which Raquel Rodriquez scored two goals, with the game winner being on a penalty kick in the 57th minute to clinch the runner up spot in Group A and their ticket to Houston for the semifinals.

Group B play started on February 11 at BBVA Compass Stadium, with Trinidad and Tobago shocking Guatemala 2-1 and Canada behind an Ashley Lawrence hat trick spanking Guyana 5-0.

On February 14 Guyana sent Guatemala packing with a 2-1 victory as Canada clinched Group B with a 6-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

Later today while Canada closes out group play with homeward bound Guatemala, Guyana and Trinidad and  Tobago will play to see who will be the Group B runner up and get the unenviable task of taking on the world champion USA in a knockout round semifinals on Friday at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Canada will play this final group game knowing that they will face Costa Rica in the knockout round on Friday with an Olympic berth on the line.

The Friday semifinal game winners will get both CONCACAF berths to the Rio Olympic Games women's soccer tournament, and play each other on Sunday for the tournament title.

2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Comes To Texas!

The venues for the 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament being hosted in the USA were announced on August 12, and both are in the Lone Star State!

CONCACAF announced that BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston and Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX will be the venues hosting the eight team tournament February 10-21 that determines which two teams from CONCACAF will be playing in the Rio Olympics in a few months.

Toyota Stadium will host the Group A matches from February 10-15, and BBVA Compass Stadium will host the Group B matches from February 11-16, the semifinal match on February 19 and final match on February 21.

The USA as the host nation has already qualified, and the world champs will be in Group A.  Canada and Mexico have also qualified, but their groups and which end of I-45 they will be playing on will be determined when the tournament draw happens

The other five nations competing will be determined by the results in the Central American and Caribbean Zone tournaments   Two will come from the Central American Zone tournament that runs September 30-October 4  and three from the Caribbean Zone. 

The Caribbean Zone tournament started August 21 and will be completed October 4.  Puerto Rico, Guyana and Jamaica are three of the four finalists in the knockout round as of this writing with the fourth finalist to be determined from a group that is composed of Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and host Saint Lucia.

Only two CONCACAF  teams will be left at BBVA Compass Stadium when it is over and it will be interesting to see which two teams will be punching their tickets to go to Brazil.
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Team USA Is Going To Canada!

The USA women's team on Sunday finished handling their CONCACAF business in PPL Park and captured their seventh title with a 6-0 rout of Costa Rica on the strength of Abby Wambach's four goals and another clean sheet by Hope Solo.

The Ticas aren't too disappointed.  They will be heading to their first ever Women's World Cup thanks to their showing in this CONCACAF qualification tournament in which they won their group and made it to the finals.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention Team USA also qualified for next year's Women's World Cup in Canada in addition to winning the tournament?

That qualification business was handled when Team USA beat Mexico 3-0 in the semifinals on Friday to avenge that 2-1 loss Mexico pinned on them four years ago.

Speaking of Mexico, they will be going to the World Cup next year along with the Ticas after beating Trinidad and Tobago 4-2 in the Third Place game to capture the third CONCACAF auto qualifying spot.

As for Trinidad and Tobago's heartwarming quest to make history and become the first ever Caribbean based female squad to make it to the World Cup, they will have to play a two leg aggregate score playoff against CONMEBOL rep (South America) Ecuador in order to punch their ticket to Canada.

Since the Mexican team plays their games at high altitude (7200 feet),the Mexican Football Federation has made the classy offer of a training facility in Mexico City to help Trinidad and Tobago get ready for that 9300 foot altitude November 8 first leg in Quito that awaits the Soca Princesses.   The return leg is in Trinidad and Tobago on December 2.

Congrats to Team USA and all the CONCACAF nations that will be playing next summer in Canada.   Hopefully Trinidad and Tobago will get to join that party. 

And I'm hoping Team USA finally gets to add that third star on their jerseys next summer.

Reggae Girlz Trying To Qualify For 2015 Women's World Cup

While much of the attention in this CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament has been focused on Group A and the FIFA world  number one ranked USA squad, there is an interesting story developing in Group B worthy of being turned into a movie. 

For various reasons, including the perception that soccer is a man's sport, the Jamaican Football Federation hasn't funded a women's soccer program since it was disbanded in 2008. 

The frustrating part about that decision for women footballers on the island is that the Reggae Girlz were one of the top ranked squads in the Caribbean region. 

Jamaican female players who wanted to pursue their passion to play did so in other nations, but never gave up the dream of one day playing for their national team in a Women's World Cup.

The Reggae Girlz are back, and thanks to raising $200,000 via two crowdfunding campaign, Cedella Marley's enthusiastic support and being the Reggae Girlz international ambassador, the team is on the verge of making its Women's World Cup qualification dream come true. 

If the do so, they would be, like their male counterparts were in 1998, the first ever Caribbean based team to make it to the World Cup and it would do wonders for women's soccer in Jamaica.

Despite not playing any international friendly matches prior to the CFA and CONCACAF tournaments, they opened Group B play with a resounding 6-0 win over Martinique in Kansas City, and have a critical match with Costa Rica today in Chicago before finishing Group B play on October 21 in Washington DC versus Mexico.

The Reggae Girlz will want to #StrikeHard and finish first in Group B so they get the Group A runner up in the knockout round.  That way Jamaica won't have to face a match with FIBA number one ranked Team USA until the CONCACAF title game.

The six goals they scored against Martinique will definitely help them out if it comes down to goal differential to sort out the Group B standings for the knockout round.

Top three squads punch their tickets to Canada for next year's World Cup, while the fourth place team in this CONCACAF qualifying tournament has to play the CONMEBOL third place squad Ecuador in a two leg playoff for another World Cup berth.
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Let's hope the Reggae Girlz make history for their nation, they get the funding and corporate backing they need, and we get to see them in Canada next summer at the Women's World Cup..

TransGriot Update: The road to World Cup qualification just got a little bumpier.  Costa Rica beat Jamaica 2-1.