The United Staets women went down in penalty kicks to Japan in the Women's World Cup Final today, losing 3-1 in the shootout.
This one was a punch right in the gonads. The USA was playing agressively and with intensity that they hadn't yet shown in the tournament and Japan was lucky to get to that 2-2 after the end of regulation and overtime because there were at least 3 chances the USA had that were agonizingly close to being goals.
But they hung on! They hung on through overtime- went ahead 2-1 and still, Japan would not go away, coming back to tie it at the end, which sent it to penalty kicks. I know what happened then is going to analyzed and picked over for years to come, because the United States, shockingly, missed it's first three PK's. Japan didn't- and got a well-deserved win!
I would have liked to see the USA triumph (obviously) but I can't begrudge Japan this win... they're a lot of fun to watch, their players always seem to be smiling and goodness knows the country of Japan could use a reason to celebrate- especially after the year they've had. Well done to them!
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