The United States got goals from Aly Wagner, Cindy Parlow and Shannon MacMillan to beat Mexico, 3-0, Sunday on the opening day of the Women's Gold Cup in Pasadena, Calif.
The Americans outshot Mexico, 25-2, in a match played almost entirely in the Tricolores' half.
''IÆm pleased with the way we played in the first half even though we created fewer chances, and then of course, the opposite was true in the second half when we created chances, but actually didnÆt play as well,'' said U.S. coach April Heinrichs ''Our game fell apart a little bit, and one of the last things I said to the team tonight was that we certainly left the door open for a better performance on Tuesday.''
Besides the two goals, Julie Foudy hit the right post, and Parlow hit the top of the cross bar in the first half. A deflected shot by Kristine Lilly hit the right post in the 75th minute
The first match at Rose Bowl for the U.S. women since the historic 1999 WomenÆs World Cup final drew a crowd of only 5,568.
Amarelis DeMera had a hat trick to lead surprise Panama to a 4-2 win over Trinidad & Tobago in the first game of the doubleheader.
USA-MEXICO SUMMARY:
Oct. 27 in Pasadena, Calif.
USA 3 Mexico 0. Goals: Wagner 5, Parlow 42, MacMillan 93+.
USA — Scurry, Sobrero, Chastain, Fawcett, Reddick, Roberts (Hucles, 46), Lilly, Foudy, Wagner, Hamm (OÆReilly, 78), Parlow (MacMillan, 63).á
Mexico — Molina, Moore, Gonzales, Mora (Worbis, 75), Gomez, Leyva, Valderrama, Perez, Gerardo (Vergara, 68), Dominguez, Mora (Antunez, 46).
Yellow card: Mexico — Valderrama 73.
Referee: Sonia Denoncourt (Canada).
Att.: 5,568.