DRESDEN, Germany — This U.S. Women’s
World Cup campaign has a chance to get big now. It’s one of the slowest weeks
on the U.S. sports calendar, so there’s not much competition, and any time you
mix patriotism and miraculous comebacks world cup football shirts and appealing athletes who play for the purity of the sport — and
the winning, of course, always the winning — well, you’ve got something that
could blow up.
The U.S.
women’s soccer team was done. Toast. Down to 10 players against Brazil
and the world’s greatest player. Down a goal. Down to the last dying seconds of
stoppage time and a cruel quarterfinal exit from the World Cup after a series
of botched officiating calls had hurt both teams, but the U.S. more than Brazil
football national team.A
lot of teams would have turned cynical, sulked and shut down on a day when
victory seemed impossible. “There were so many opportunities for us to throw in
the towel,” said U.S.
forward Abby Wambach afterward. “The 120th minute of extra time, down a man and
playing against Brazil,
who knows how to finish off a game.”At a time when the U.S. could have resorted to cynicism, Brazil
certainly did. Defender Erika went down like she’d been hit with a stun-gun, a
classic time-wasting tactic late in a game, only to spring up to life as soon
as the stretchers came out for her. The pro-U.S. crowd booed mercilessly.But
then something happened. That American thing. “I come from Sweden,” said U.S. coach Pia Sundhage Brazil Football Shirt, “and this American attitude, pulling everything together and
bringing out the best performance in each other, that is contagious.”The U.S. pushed
forward, desperate for an equalizer, a Hail Mary. Midfielder Carli Lloyd fed
the ball to Megan Rapinoe on the left flank. Rapinoe is one of the great
characters on this U.S.
team. After she scored earlier in the tournament, Rapinoe celebrated by picking
up an on-field microphone and singing “Born in the USA.” Rapinoe had an opening, and
on the far post she saw the lurking menace of Wambach.”I just took a touch and
friggin’ smacked it with my left foot,” Rapinoe said. “I don’t think I’ve ever
hit a ball like that with my left foot. I got it to the back post and that
beast in the air just got a hold of it.”
Rapinoe’s cross sailed just beyond the fingertips of Brazilian
goalkeeper Andreia, square onto the sturdy forehead of Wambach, and the
towering forward made no mistake, thundering it with her head into the net. The
U.S.’s
prayer Brazil Jersey Soccer Answered. Karma? Restored.All that remained was a penalty-kick
shootout, perhaps the most dramatic and diabolical tie-breaker in sports.
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