BRADENTON, Florida – It is a feeling that United States Women’s Under-17 DF Sophia Jones will remember for the rest of her life.
When the final whistle blew on the U.S.’s 3-2 victory over Haiti in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship, it meant that the objective of reaching the 2018 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup objective had been met.
“I feel incredible. It’s all about the team and putting in work for a year-and-a-half and seeing all of our dreams come true is an amazing feeling. I’m so happy to do it with my best friends and family,” said Jones in a post-game interview with CONCACAF.com.
It was far from easy for the U.S.
Haiti jumped out to a 1-0 lead and frustrated the U.S. attack for large portions of the first half. But that was when the resilience of Jones and her teammates kicked in.
“I knew it was early in the game and if we stuck to our principles and play the way we were going to play that we’d get the win. We stuck together, worked for each other and it all worked out,” said Jones.
Jones was also quick to praise Sunday’s opponent, saying that Haiti gave the U.S. everything it could handle and more.
“There was a lot of back and forth. Haiti are fighters. They’re a really good team. We matched up with them and knew it was going to be a battle. We put in all our effort and fortunately it worked out,” said Jones.
Now with its ticket punched to the World Cup to Uruguay, the U.S. is keen to complete the tournament in style and win its fourth CWU 17 crown on Tuesday in the final versus Mexico.
“It means everything. It’s been what we’ve been working for. I’m so excited for Uruguay but right now we have to play well on Tuesday and try to win this championship,” concluded Jones.
