Lady Luck favours U.S. in soccer final
It wasn’t the gold-medal game Canadians wanted to see but it was the final the soccer world wanted to see and, in a result that will doubtlessly thrill the frozen north, the U.S. defended their Olympic gold medal.
But it took two goals from Carli Lloyd, a five-alarm save from Hope Solo in the 82nd minute and all their considerable resources — to say nothing of another gift call from the referee — for the world’s top-ranked team to hold off a gritty, determined Japanese side, recording a 2-0 victory.
“We all devoted ourselves to this one central idea and it was a gold medal,” said American star Abby Wambach. “We worked so hard for this.”
Thursday night, before some 83,000 fans in a pulsating atmosphere at Wembley Stadium, the Americans and Japanese hooked up in a cracker of a gold-medal game that hung on three or four key moments, all of which fell in the American’s favour.
Lloyd, who accused Canada’s Melissa Tancredi of stomping on her head during Monday’s semifinal, opened the scoring in the eighth minute, then added her second at the 54-minute mark to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead. Solo, who saw two balls rattle off the crossbar behind her, made the save of the tournament when she stretched to deny Mana Awabuchi in the late going. And the Americans made it stand up with their superior speed and physicality.
But the game’s other key moment came in the 26th minute on a play that must rankle the Canadians. Off a free kick, Japan’s skipper Aya Miyama drilled a shot that hit the hand of American defender Tobin Heath.
Heath, in fact, appeared to move her arm in the path of the ball, but German referee Bibiana Steinhaus didn’t make the call.
In Monday’s semifinal, with Canada holding a 3-2 lead in the late going, the Americans were awarded a penalty by now-famous referee Christiana Pedersen when a free kick hit the hand of Canadian defender Marie-Eve Nault. Wambach scored to tie the game and the Americans won in injury time of extra time.
Still, through the life of the tournament, the Americans were the best side and their quality had a way of showing up at defining moments. Wambach and Alex Morgan formed the most dangerous attacking partnership through the two weeks. Solo is the best goalie in the world.
Lloyd, meanwhile, got into the lineup because of an injury to Shannon Boxx and made the most of her opportunity.
The Canadians, meanwhile, took part in Thursday night’s medal ceremony at Wembley after edging France 1-0 in Coventry to win the bronze earlier in the day.
“It was amazing,” said captain Christine Sinclair. “Walking out on Wembley in front of 80,000 people, it was pretty incredible.”
Head coach John Herdman was asked if the ceremony was bittersweet for his team.
“Maybe because they were so close,” he said. “But to see the flag rise was something special for these girls. “