|
SLAM! Sports SLAM! Soccer World Cup COLUMNS THE WORLD
INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM!  |
Saturday, June 24, 2000Canada beats Mexico 4-3 in Women's Gold CupFOXBORO, Mass. (CP) -- Charmaine Hooper, in her return to Canada's national women's team, scored in the 87th minute as Canada defeated Mexico 4-3 in the Women's Gold Cup championship on Saturday afternoon.Hooper drove a direct kick from just outside the penalty area over a wall of Mexican players after Christine Latham had been taken down. Hooper, 32, is making her first appearance after a lengthy absence because of stress fractures in her legs. She is Canada's leading scorer with 37 goals in 62 games. The other goal scorers were not immediately available. Canadian coach Even Pellerud was upset with the close game after his team had beaten China on June 8 in the Pacific Cup in Australia and finished third in that tournament. "It's a big disappointment," he said. "We hoped we would take one step forward. We took two steps back." "It's very difficult to be that close and lose," Mexico coach Leonardo Cuellar said. On Monday night, Canada faces China and Mexico meets Guatemala in Hershey. In the other game China routed Guatemala 14-0. The Chinese dominated with a shot advantage of 45-1, four goals and four assists by Zhang Ouying, three goals by Shui Qingxia, and one player who was more spectator than goalkeeper. Gao Hong spent most of the hot, sunny day standing at the top of the arc, some 20 yards in front of her goal, observing the assault. She easily handled Guatemala's only shot, a soft popup from 25 yards by Claudia Galvez in the 24th minute. "The opposition was not very strong," China captain Liu Ailing said, "but we were playing our utmost to make it an interesting game." 
|
