Well, that was exciting, shocking, and ultimately sad if you’re a fan of USA Women’s World Cup Soccer. The USA Women played a game that, arguably, should have been 3 to 1, but it wasn’t. With every USA miss, Japan gained confidence.
And let’s face it: no one gave Japan a chance in all of this. But they knocked off Germany. Then, against a favored Swedish team, they just plain clobbered them.
And now, as they say, half the part of life is just showing up. Japan showed up, then realized they could win, and just barely did.
Let’s face it: Japan won because of the penalty kick round. I didn’t expect Hope Solo to miss twice. Didn’t expect any of the USA women to miss on scoring in the penalty kick round. In all, it was just plain shocking.
But give it to our USA Women’s Soccer Team. To me, they will always be heroes. They electrified this country, and produced so much excitement, and gained so many new fans, that Women’s Soccer will experience yet another elevation.
Let’s just hope that, this time around, people actually pay attention during the season, and not just for the World Cup games.
Four of the top ten Twitter trending topics were related to this World Cup Final. Women’s sports, thanks in part to this contest, has been lifted to mainstream status.
As much as I frankly want to cry, well, I’m just going to.
Bill Carroll