Game

The U.S. controlled this game from start to finish with disciplined defensive play throughout. After the first half they contained a plucky Costa Rica

Post game quotes

U.S. Head Coach April Heinrichs

As Canada showed today, you can't take anything for granted. You never know the outcome until you play. This is the third time we've seen Costa Rica in just over a year and I think they've made remarkable improvement. They have a fighting spirit, organization and commitment that I didn't see six months ago. I was extremely impressed with them and I was not surprised by their result with Canada and by their effort in the first half against us. I think they are a really nice team and over the course of the tournament they were one of the best teams in possession play. We can learn from the Costa Rican team in playing quick one and two touches and combination play through the midfield.

In this tournament, I think one of the most important qualities that helped us advance was discipline. We didn't react to referees or to late fouls and that was a huge factor in why we were able to advance. We kept our heads. We've worked extremely hard. This might be the most difficult January or February we've ever had. You can't just show up in Costa Rica and except to qualify for the Olympics. It's an honor to coach these players and be a part of this organization. The commitment to excellence is 365 days a year, so to bring this group to Costa Rica, to train as hard as they did, and to be able to achieve our goal of advancing to the Olympics is very exciting for everyone.

Our team has gotten better during the course of the tournament. We played our best game today. We had some phenomenal combination play up the wings today and it became very difficult for Costa Rica to stay with us.

We are celebrating Mexico's advancement because they are the little guys, the underdogs, and as Americans we always cheer for the underdogs. But having watched Mexico during the course of the tournament, they really deserved to advance. They played extremely well against us and really took it to Canada today. You really saw some great spirit. What we are finding with Mexico's advancement and Costa Rica's success during the tournament is the power of belief. They believe in themselves now and part of the reason is that their Federations are giving them more opportunities to play. If you play against the USA enough times, you start believing you can beat them one day. We've played Costa Rica three times now and each time they have gotten better, maybe not in terms of the result, but in terms of the performance.

I am really pleased for the women's game to see Mexico qualify for the Olympics, and it will get more support from their Federation and make CONCACAF better. It will force the United States and Canada to keep working hard to stay ahead

U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx

This is my first time qualifying for an Olympics, so I'm really excited. Obviously, it was something that was expected of us, but it's still always a tough road. We came out today and put on a good performance and got the result we needed.

U.S. defender Cat Reddick

It's so exciting to know that this team is going to Greece. I'm excited to train with these players for the next four months. The Olympics is something you dream about and every time you see those five rings you know that it's something special.

U.S. captain Julie Foudy

The one great thing about this team is that we never take anything for granted. There are so many things that can go wrong. You can let in a bad goal or have a bad referee or something else. We knew we had to make sure we respected them, playing Costa Rica in Costa Rica. Their fans are loud and very behind them. We weren't thinking we were a shoe-in during this entire tournament, because you just never know. Look at what happened to Canada.