The US women fought to raise the level of soccer worldwide, and now the competition is much tougher

BY ANNE M. PETERSON

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. national team has fought for years to raise the level of women’s soccer across the globe, but that doesn’t make its inevitable losses to teams it once dominated any easier.

“People say that everyone’s catching up with us. Of course, and that’s what needs to happen in women’s football,” forward Alex Morgan said after the U.S. fell 2-0 to Mexico on Monday night at the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. “But yes, do we want to stay on top? Absolutely. But we have to continue to have an edge and today we didn’t have that.”

The loss was only the second time Mexico has beaten the U.S. The only other Mexico victory in the 43-game series was in 2010, a 2-1 win at a World Cup qualifying match in Cancun.

Coming as it did after some difficult times for the U.S.