Let's flash back to last year around this exact time. The USA had just overcome an incredible challenge as they came back from behind, scoring in the 122' minute, beating Brazil in penalty kicks during the quarterfinal match in the 2011 Women's World Cup.
The US continued on to beat France 3-1 in the semi-final, with goal contributions from Lauren Cheney, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan. But the real challenge was yet to come, as the girls saddled up to face Japan in the finals. Although the US led twice during the game with goals from Morgan and Wambach, Japan came right back with goals of their own and the game was eventually sent to PKs. With the nation behind them, there was no doubt everyone was confident they could win it again in PKs. Shockingly, Japan prevailed, leaving the team, as well as the whole United States, heartbroken. Although I have never been a big soccer fan, the heart and passion this team showed during the tournament won me over, and I was genuinely heart broken for the team after this loss. But everything happens for a reason, so the girls got back on the horse and immediately started to prepare for the London Olympics searching for one thing: redemption.
Coming into the Olympics, all eyes were on Alex Morgan, the new starting forward who scored some incredibly clutch goals in the World Cup tournament and had 19 goals in 18 games coming into London. With Wambach and Morgan on top, there was no stopping this US offense and they respectively earned the number 1 seed. The US started the Olympic tournament off strong, beating France 4-2, with two goals scored by each team in just the first 30 minutes of the game! With two goals by Morgan, one by Wambach and one by Carli Lloyd, the girls were out to an impressive start. From there, the team easily defeated Columbia 3-0 and then North Korea 1-0. However, both games went without goals from Morgan; definitely not what anyone expected. Moving on, the girls clinched the top seed in their bracket, guaranteeing the team a spot in the quarterfinals.
The girls rolled into the quarterfinals, high off their 3 wins in pool play, to beat New Zealand 2-0, with goals from Wambach (scoring a goal in every game so far) and the exciting rookie Sydney Leroux. At this time, everyone is wondering, when is Alex Morgan going to come up huge. This was the longest streak of games that Alex had not scored a goal since she got the starting spot on the team. When asked about her not scoring since the opening game, she responded "It's not about who scores as long as we win the game." Although the US was still winning games without a goals coming from Morgan, this trend was not going to last long. If the US was going to get any further, they needed Alex to contribute some goals and she apparently got that message. Into the semi final we go.
Up next: Canada. Now, as a follower of the team, I was glad that the US faced Canada instead of Great Britain because the US had never had any problems defeating Canada before. In fact, the last time Canada beat the US Alex Morgan was 11 years old (12 years ago)! Canada is lead by Christine Sinclair, the 2nd most leading goal scorer in history, second to Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach behind her by two goals. However, Sinclair had been shut out by Hope Solo for the many games preceding this one. Before the game, the Canada coach released a statement calling the US's aggressive playing style "iilegal," hoping that the referees would give them some calls in their favor and that the US would lighten up. That didn't stop them as the girls came aggressive as ever and Canada pushed right back.
After being shut out for so many games, Sinclair scored a great goal, going right passed Hope Solo. Coming back from the half, the Americans knew they could not give up now. In an unfamiliar situation, the US had to fight right back as Megan Rapinoe (midfielder) bended one in on a corner kick. Even at 1, the Canadians almost immediately responded, as Sinclair headed one to make the score 2-1. In what seemed to be a battle between Rapinoe and Sinclair, Rapinoe scored again, evening the score back to 2-2. This game was becoming to hard predict as it could have gone either way at this point. Canada continued to persevere as Sinclair headed yet another goal in, making the score 3-2 with all 3 goals coming from Sinclair. But what makes all American teams so dominant is there ability to NEVER give up.
As if the game could not get any more dramatic, Canada was called on a very rare call, as the referee said that Canada's goalkeeper (McLeod) held the ball too long as a stall tactic, giving the US a free kick in the box. From there, Rapinoe took the free kick, and then a handball was called on the Canadian team, giving the US a penalty kick. The veteran Abby Wambach had no trouble putting that one in, making the score even at 3-3 with only a short amount of regulation time remaining. As predicted, the game went into over time. Unable to get a goal from the the dynamic duo up top, Pia Sunhage (head coach of the USWNT) put in the rookie threat, Sydney Leroux and the formation switched to a 3-4-3. This is when I thought, "here we go, the US has to get a goal now." But as they got further into extra time, energy on the field was dying as it normally does after playing over 100 minutes, and it was clear that PKs were definitely where the game was heading. Three minutes of stoppage time was added and with just 30 seconds left, Heather O' Reilly crossed the ball into the box, the ball found the head of Alex Morgan, and into the goal it went. Alex Morgan had finally arrived and better late than ever.
Here are all the goals from the game, with Morgan's epic header in the 123rd minute! No doubt, the best game I have ever witnessed. I was nervous and shaking the whole second half and that's how you know it's a good game.
In a rematch of the 2011 World Cup final, the girls will face off against Japan, a team they know oh so well. The girls have been working all year for this game and you can bet that these girls will give one hell of a fight. However, in order to beat Japan (just like my friend Catherine said), Alex Morgan has to step up her game. Yes, she came up clutch in the game against Canada, but she cannot go back into the passenger seat. Morgan has to be on her game and not missing those shots she normally finishes 9 times out of 10. Wambach will no doubt be on her game, so if Alex steps it up, this duo will go back to be the best pair of forwards in the world. We all know from last year's memorable, World Cup goal by Alex (above) that if given the long ball, Alex can easily beat her defender and give the US a great scoring chance. I am going to say the long ball from Rapinoe to the top is going to be the go to play for the game. If for some reason Japan shuts out the Wambach/Morgan, Pia has to make the move to put Sydney Leroux in and shift to a 3-4-3 formation to really put the pressure on. Rachel Buehler was a big part of the defensive success this tournament so she has to keep doing what she's doing and O'Hara and team captain, Rampone, have to be right up on her level too. Rapinoe needs to keep being a boss and get the ball into Morgan and Wambach to create scoring opportunities. Tobin Heath (midfield) also needs to step up and start being way more aggressive because when she gets the ball, 9 times out of 10, she will beat her defender. There is a great chance this game can go into PKs again and if that happens Hope Solo has to do what she does best and come up clutch. Overall, I would say this game is going to heavily revolve around how the Wambach/Morgan duo perform.
Tune into the game today, August 9th at 2:30pm ET on NBC Sports Network. If you have cable you should have this channel so tune in and support our girls!
