United States interim coach Twila Kilgore said the womenโs national team is โjust getting startedโ after winning the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup through a 1-0 victory over Brazil in Sundayโs final.
โThis is a group thatโs moving forward together, that still wants more time together. Itโs time to go back to club [seasons] for them and do those things, but we genuinely enjoy being together and feel like weโre just getting started,โ Kilgore said after clinching the trophy at San Diegoโs Snapdragon Stadium.
โThis is a group thatโs just getting started.โ
Played in front of a crowd 31,528ย which is a record for a Concacaf womenโs game โ the U.S. womenโs national team were able to narrowly sneak past Brazil thanks to a 46th minute game-winner from captain Lindsey Horan.
With the trophy in hand, the U.S. have bounced back after an underwhelming round of 16 finish in the 2023 FIFA Womenโs World Cup. Following last summerโs early exit from the four-time World Cup champions, former head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned from his position, thereby leaving Kilgore as interim.
โThis is a team and a program that will always have attention and expectations on it, and we say that pressure is a privilege,โ Kilgore said.
โWeโve regrouped, weโve set new goals, weโve set a new style of play. Weโre working towards something together and itโs a very public process, and thatโs just not easy. Iโm just so proud of them and Iโm just so happy.โ
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Regarding Sundayโs final against Brazil, the USWNT interim noted the impact of Horanโs goal.
โWe were pinned in for quite a bit of the first half and it took us some time to work our way out of that. Then the timing of our goal was really critical, just before half, [it] means we come back with a slightly different strategy in the second half,โ Kilgore said.
Postgame, Brazil coach Arthur Elias highlighted how well his roster had done that outshot the USWNT 12 to 7.
โI believe that we had a great performance during the game, we had chances to score goals today,โ Elias said. โThey were very well prepared as well to play our team today, but we had more chances to score goals than the U.S.โ
Looking ahead, the U.S. will take part in two She Believes Cup matches in April.
Chelsea womenโs manager Emma Hayes will soon take over as permanent coach for the USWNT after the end of the Womenโs Super League season.