The Chicago Red Stars have been well represented throughout the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup group stage. Despite having four players in the main draw of the tournament, only Alyssa Naeher (USWNT) and Julia Bianchi (Brazil) managed to make it out of the group stage and into the quarterfinals this weekend in California.
Chicago’s Jill Aguilera and Samantha Fisher were crucial parts of Puerto Rico and El Salvador’s squads, respectively, but din't qualify for the knockout phase of the action after their three matches in group play. Both played their sides into the tournament after winning their final preliminary matches on Feb. 17, making history in the process.
Aguilera’s W Gold Cup was a success before the tournament even began. She noted in November that qualifying for the tournament would be a historic achievement for Puerto Rico and she helped her side get so close to qualifying for the knockout rounds. Puerto Rico lost its first and final group-stage matches to Brazil and Colombia, respectively, without scoring. The squad's breakthrough came in a match against Panama, a 2-1 win that included an assist from Aguilera on Madison Cox’s goal in the 73rd minute. Puerto Rico was robbed of a spot in the knockout rounds when Costa Rica was the team selected from a random draw after the sides finished level on points.
Samantha Fisher’s El Salvador side was overmatched in its first two matches in Houston, a 6-0 loss to Canada before a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica. Fisher etched herself in El Salvador’s history books when she scored her nation’s first W Gold Cup goal in the 69th minute of a 3-2 loss to Paraguay after her penalty kick was saved. Red Stars teammate Ava Cook told reporters that she was emotional seeing Fisher score.
“I had a couple tears in my eyes,” said Cook during Red Stars media day. “I was actually on the phone with my mom ‘cause we were both watching the game and all of a sudden it was like, ‘oh my God, rewind the TV right now. Did I just see what I think I saw?’ And I watched and we were screaming on the phone. I was so, so, so proud of her. It just shows like she works her butt off all the time and I'm happy that she has the opportunity to represent them. And I just couldn't be more proud of her.”
Julia Bianchi was in and out of Brazil’s lineup in the group stage but her side only won the matches in which she played. Bianchi spent the entirety of Brazil’s 1-0 win over Aguilera and Puerto Rico at right back before occupying a central midfield role in a 5-0 win over Panama in the group stage finale in San Diego. Naturally, Brazil lost 1-0 to Colombia with Bianchi watching from the bench. Brazil faces off against Argentina in a quarterfinal match on March 2 in Los Angeles at 9:15 PM CT on Paramount+.
Alyssa Naeher and the United States Women’s National Team cruised into the knockout rounds but left a sour taste after losing 2-0 to Mexico in the group stage finale with the Red Stars’ goalkeeper in net. Naeher was in goal for the loss against Mexico and the USWNT’s 5-0 win over the Dominican Republic while Casey Murphy was in goal for the 4-0 win over Argentina. Naeher’s next appearance will be her 100th with the USWNT, making her the third goalkeeper to hit that mark with the U.S. The USWNT will play Costa Rica in the last quarterfinal on March 3 in Los Angeles with kickoff scheduled for 7:15 PM CT on Paramount+.
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