Heart Breaker In Germany

Hey All,

The US women faced Japan yesterday in the Women's World Cup Finals, and as predicted it was one for the books. In the opening 30 minutes of the game, the US women had plenty of chances to put some points on the board, but failed to do so. It seemed like every player for USA just couldn't find the back of the net. Shots going wide, over, and great saves by the Japanese goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori made scoring difficult. I was certain that this would be USA's time to shine, and get out of the shadow of the 1999 World Cup's US team. The first half of the game was all about goalkeeping for both teams. Hope Solo made some amazing saves as well as Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori. It would come down to how both teams would play in the second half of this game. Once the horn blew to start the second half, it played out just like the first, goalkeeping ruled. It wasn't until the 71st minute when USA's youngest player Alex Morgan put one past Kaihori to put the US up 1-0. Japan would not go down without a fight, getting the equalizer in the 81st minute off the foot of Aya Miyama. This was a spectacular goal to say the least. Solo had originally stopped the first shot at her, but wasn’t able to get a hold of the ball. Her teammates couldn't clear leaving Miyama the open look to put it past her. This would send the game into overtime, something the women of USA are used to seeing in this tournament. It wasn't until the 104th minute where the head of Abby Wambach put one past Kaihori. Everyone including myself thought this would be the final, but Japan said we don't think so. With just minutes left Japan would get yet another equalizer off the foot of Homare Sawa, leading the USA women into another game to be decided by penalty kicks. Now I thought this was a good situation for the US to be in, and predicted that this game would go down like the 1999 World Cup final did with USA winning in dramatic fashion. The reason this was not the best situation for USA is because Japan has seen all the shots that USA has taken when it comes to PK's. Everyone knows that Japan was studying the kicks in case they were put into this situation. Kaihori had the number of every player she faced in this round of penalty kicks, except for Wambach who was the only player to put one past her. Hope Solo was playing hurt after tweaking her knee right before Japan got the equalizing goal. Solo only made one save and let three go past her to give Japan a win, and the World Cup Title. One stat that is worth telling is that this was the 26th meeting between the two teams, and before yesterday’s game Japan was 0-25 against the US. So not only did Japan win the World Cup, but also snapped a 25 game losing streak against the women of USA. I want to say congratulations to Japan on their victory tonight, it was much needed for the nation of Japan after the devastating events that happened just a few months prior to the start of the World Cup. Also I want to congratulate the women of USA for fighting so hard in this tournament, and making it all the way to the finals.