June 25, 1999

In First Ever World Cup, Mexico Pounded by Brazil

By John Philip Wyllie

Had Mexico's fledgling Women's World Cup team been able to somehow defeat Brazil in their WWC opener on Saturday, Sunday's headlines would have proclaimed it the "Miracle of the Meadowlands". It didn't happen.

Maribel Dominguez celebrates after scoring Mexico's first goal to tie the game early in the first period, it turned out to be Mexico's only goal of the game.

Instead, Brazil's powerful attack pounded the World Cup Mexican debutants 7-1 with the help of hat tricks from international superstars, Sissi and Pretinha. Mexico's lone goal came in the tenth minute when Maribel Dominguez equalized for Las Tricolores. It was all downhill from there as Brazil's relentless attack bombarded the Mexican goal with 25 shots and continuous pressure.

While disappointing, the result was not completely unexpected if you consider the way Brazil completely dominated their South American competition in World Cup qualifying.

Eighteen year old Linnea Quinones, a San Diego product who played for Bonita Vista High before moving on to San Diego State last fall, faced the wrath of the deadly pair of Brazilian strikers. Unfortunately, she was often forced to face them alone as her defense was frequently overrun and outplayed by the brilliant dynamic duo. When the dust settled, they had each recorded hat tricks and Mexico found itself on the losing end of a 7-1 schooling.

Despite the score, Quinones' ten saves, some of which were truly marvelous, kept the score from becoming even more lopsided. In a post-game interview, sporting an icepack for a contusion on her shin, Quinones stated the obvious. "I think they (Brazil) are a great team. They are just as good and possibly could beat the United States or at least play (even) with them." (There is a strong possibility the U.S. and Brazil will meet in the quarterfinals on July 1).

Not discouraged in spite of the drubbing, Quinones felt thrilled just to play "a high caliber team like Brazil and to learn from everything." She also noted that, " in the second half we did a lot better. We marked them tighter and didn't give them the room to do the things they did in the first half."

Mexico's coach, Leonardo Cuellar was equally upbeat. "We were baptized today by one of the most powerful countries in soccer. All I can see is a bright future for Mexico, taking into consideration that this team is very young."

Cidinha #5 of Brazil competes for the ball with Monica Gonzalez of Mexico at Giants Stadium.

Last night Mexico tried to apply the painful lessons learned against Brazil in their confrontation with Germany. The result was unavailable at presstime. Their final first round match is scheduled for Saturday, June 27 (9:30 PDT pm on ESPN2) against Italy. The Italians stunned Germany on Sunday by gaining a 1-1 draw. Things could get a lot worse for Mexico before they get better.

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