Let's give the girls a hand . . .
An exciting phenomenon is sweeping America: The most popular global sport is finally starting to win the attention of reluctant fans who suddenly can't get enough of our ladies on the pitch. As many might have noticed, coverage of our homegrown Major League Soccer (MLS) has grown considerably in our newspapers and is slowly easing its way into our television habits. Without a doubt, this spiked interest has been boosted by the high-stakes drama unfolding between the women battling in Canada for the prestigious 2015 World Cup. In fact, newbies to the sport witnessed first-hand the sweaty palms of destiny-changing penalty kicks that mirror those must-make field goals football fans endure in prayer as the ball cuts through wind and snow.
On Tuesday, millions worldwide watched a truly thrilling match between the United States and Germany. Most bookmakers had Germany pegged as a big favorite, and for good reason. The coaching, the team's history, and player match-ups tipped on paper overwhelmingly to the Germans, but it wasn't until the Americans hit the field with blinding vigor that everyone saw the gross miscalculation that duped millions of dollars into backing Germany. In what seemed like one long missed opportunity for the Americans, the first half of the match was plagued by one failed chance and near miss after another, even though the U.S. clearly dominated the Germans. But the momentum had been set and would fortunately remain.
The start of the second half was much of the same with agonizing moments of screaming frustration as balls flew just wide of the net or inches out of the grasp of a nearby player. But the turning point of the game was when Germany's star, Celia Sasic lined up in what everybody just knew would give Germany a 1-0 lead and force the Americans to play catch-up for the balance of the match. All eyes were on U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, the subject of unrelenting media splashed accusations of domestic violence (charges that were dropped), when Sasic quietly lined up and cleverly struck the ball, sending Solo flying in the opposite direction, but thankfully missed wide of the goal. It was Sasic's unlikely choke that gave the Americans the invigorating boost that turned the tide. Of course, we cannot discount Solo's questionable, yet strategic techniques that might have led to the 'icing' of Sasic.
Shortly thereafter, the Americans had their own gut wrenching moment for a high-percentage penalty kick, though our girl didn't choke. Carli Lloyd hit a beautifully placed ball that easily flew past Germany's goalie, and splashed against the net in brilliant fashion. It was indeed, a feeling of unmistakable bliss that sent chills down my spine too see the happiness of not just the players celebrating the go-ahead goal but all the red, white, and blue painted faces that packed the stadium and lined the streets of Chicago where they were watching the moment on the big screen. It felt supremely awesome, and was as memorable as any other sporting event I've watched.
Minutes later, the Americans sealed the deal with a flying kick by Kelley O'Hara, putting them up 2-0. That goal created the mountain too hard for the Germans to scale against a bleeding Hublot clock. The American women have earned a seat at the final this coming Sunday where they will square off against an old rival, the ladies from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. This will be a repeat of the 2011 World Cup where Japan edged past our girls in penalty kicks. America will have the clear dominance in height over the Japanese, which is especially important for corner kicks, where headers are a powerful and hard-to-defend-against method of scoring in these situations. However, we can be certain that Japan has already forgotten about their last minute win against England and is hard at studying video and putting together a game plan against the U.S. It's their strict adherence to discipline that will keep this match competitive, but it won't be enough for them to win.
It's our time to hoist the World Cup and the momentum is squarely on our side. This will not only be a grand opportunity to attract more fans to this great sport, but it will be the ultimate stage for the Americans to affirmatively stamp their new dominance on this global game. Ladies first.