A big congratulation to JAPAN! They did it. They have become the first Asian country that lifted the World Cup trophy. These ladies have made their country proud and all Asian proud.
We did not move our eyes away from the TV last night, and believe it when we said it was one of the best game in football history, men or women. You think you have seen the best fighting spirit in USA while they played against Brazil? Not quite, wait until you have seen this game.
First half of the game was goalless, both team were playing quite carefully, Japan kept trying but USA was the better team and had some really close chances in opening the score. After half-time, both team started to speed things up. Alex Morgan scored the first goal for USA. USA was clearly the better team of the evening, in terms of keeping their tempo and creating chances, but Japan has their spirits. When we thought the game might have been over, Japan came back to the game by scoring their first goal in 80 minutes, didn’t miss it when USA finally made an error at the back. The game went into extra time.
Wambach scored her favorite header at the end of first half in extra time. Japan looked frustrated, but still not giving up. Homare Sawa sent Japan into penalty shootout by scoring an equalizer. Soon after, Azusa Iwashimizu was sent off, last defender preventing Alex Morgan from scoring a goal, but one lady down didn’t really affect both team as the game already went into additional time. There comes the most cruel penalty shootout.
You think no more drama can happen in penalty shootout? USA missed their first three penalties. Saki Kumagai put the ball into the back of the net and won Japan their World Cup trophy! It was sad to see USA lost, because no doubt they were the better team, but their spirit weren’t as strong as Japan. Does this remind you of the Brazil USA game? Only USA has become Brazil, and Japan took on USA’s spirit, kept bouncing back.
All Images via Zimbio/GettyImage
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