2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

The starting 11 for the United States Women's Soccer Team

            
            The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup was America’s to lose, and lose they did. The Americans made it all the way to the championship game against Japan on Sunday, and ended up losing in penalty kicks.

            
            In soccer, there are two 45-minute periods with a continuous clock. In the championship game Sunday, nothing exciting happened at all in the first period. There was a lot of passing, dribbling, and missed shots. The perfect example of why soccer (football everywhere else in the world except the U.S.) is not too popular here in America. 
      
            The second period was the exact opposite. It was full of excitement and great plays, the perfect example of why soccer is a wonderful game.

            
            In the 70 minute of the game, American player Alex Morgan got a long pass from teammate Megan Rapinoe and kicked the ball into the right side of the net from 17 ft. out to score the first goal of the game. At the 80’mark, the Japanese scored their first goal of the game, due in large part to lackadaisical play by the Americans. The score was then tied at 1-1 with just ten minutes to play. Those next ten minutes saw each team ferociously going back and forth trying to get the go-ahead goal.

            
            After 90 minutes the score was still 1-1 and the game went into overtime. Overtime in soccer consists of two 15-minutes periods, with no “golden goal”. In the first period of this overtime, Abby Wambach scored her 4^th goal in 6 games. Her goal put the U.S. ahead, 2-1, going into the second period of overtime.

            
            In the second period, Japan scored. The ball was just inches from American goal Hope Solo’s gloves, but slipped by and went into the center of the net. The goal tied it up at 2-2, and that’s how overtime ended, thus forcing penalty kicks.

            
             The penalty kicks format is basically a best -of -five shootout. A player from each team tries to get the ball around the goalie and into the net from about 40 ft. away. This is how the penalty kicks went:

O-goal

X- no goal

            
U.S.   -  X X X O 
Japan-   O X O O

            
              That may look like what you see in your bowl of Apple Jacks, but it also means Japan won. They win the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in PK’s, 3-1.

            Finishing second is not necessarily a bad thing for Team U.S.A., but it’s not a good thing. This was a team that should have won it all. They were so close to winning, and had fought so hard to get to the championship game. Their win against Brazil in the quarterfinals was one of the most exciting sports events I’ve ever seen. With just one minute left in the game, Abby Wambach got the ball in the goal and forced the game into penalty kicks. Then American goalie, Hope Solo, was able to block two kicks, and Team U.S.A. won the game. Their next opponent in the semi-finals, France, was defeated easily with a score of 3-1.

           

            On the Women’s National Team were two young women who were both born in Indianapolis, Indiana. In fact, they both went to high school within a few miles of where I currently reside. It is pretty awesome to see players from the “west side” representing the United States on the international stage.

            
            Lauren Cheney was born in Indianapolis and attended Ben Davis High School. She is now 23 and has been a part of the U.S. senior team since 2007. In 2007 she was named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. Cheney played on the Women’s Olympic Team in 2008 and won a gold medal. In the 2011 World Cup Tournament she has scored 2 goals and tallied 3 assists.

Lauren Cheney

            
            The other Hoosier is Lori Lindsey, the 21-year old graduate of Pike High School. Lindsey earned All-State Honors all four years in high school, and then went on to play at the University of Virginia. She didn’t make an impact in any of the games in the tournament, but she is young and will be called upon again in four years for the next World Cup. 

Lori Lindsey

FUN FACT! Apparently Lori Lindsey refereed indoor soccer games that Lauren Cheney played in during high school. Going further, that indoor soccer facility is where my brother and I used to play dodge ball at!