Well, it's over.....but what a game. Congrats Japan, they got it done. Team USA has no reason to hang their heads.

Abby Wambach was very gracious afterwards.

510Bear;531711 said:

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Well, it's over.....but what a game. Congrats Japan, they got it done. Team USA has no reason to hang their heads.

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+1

US had their chances but got to congrats to Japan for not giving up! Both teams should be proud of their play today....

Morgan will get her trophy in years to come. Amazing fighting spirit by the Japanese women, what a tournament, taking out the two-time defending champs on their own soil, schooling Sweden and coming back twice to overcome the top-ranked team in the world.

Congrats to the "Frilled Pink Carnations" (yes, that's their official nickname!) There's going to be an anime version of this game and it's going to be just as epic as the real one.

A couple of nits about the US coach: (1) poor substitution choices, she should have used all three before the end of regulation, the US was a bit gassed late in the game and (2) she should have had Wambach, Rapinoe and the other mentally strong players start the PK series. Boxx and the second kicker looked really shaky.

I think Hope Solo and the USA defense played terribly.

they struggled to clear simple balls and solo missed 3/4 of the penalty shots. She was moving around before the shot so much just to miss the shot or not react when the shot came. Japan on the other hand was calm, cool, and collected at all times and made shots when they counted. USA obviously is the better team, they were careless, and reckless towards the end of the each period when they were going to win.

Wambach, Morgan, and Rapinoe were excellent.

Rapinoe was subbed near the end for Heath. The choices for the Pk takers was questionable at best. Boxx missed against Brazil and got a reprieve for the keeper's mistake, then took the first kick the same way soft and right with no pace. The Japan keeper almost jumped too far to stop it. Lloyd(second pker) thought the goal was about 100 yards further than it was. Then Tobin Heath who had been in the game for like 5 minutes totally showed that she was going left.

Great game, but someone has to lose. Morgan played great and will be a mainstay on that front line with Wambach in the future. Scary pair in that combo.

Agureghian;531718 said:

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I think Hope Solo and the USA defense played terribly.

they struggled to clear simple balls and solo missed 3/4 of the penalty shots. She was moving around before the shot so much just to miss the shot or not react when the shot came. Japan on the other hand was calm, cool, and collected at all times and made shots when they counted. USA obviously is the better team, they were careless, and reckless towards the end of the each period when they were going to win.

Wambach, Morgan, and Rapinoe were excellent.

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Choke City. Solo was awful.

GB54;531720 said:

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Choke City. Solo was awful.

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indeed. she did not live up to the hype at all.

Cal88;531716 said:

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There's going to be an anime version of this game and it's going to be just as epic as the real one.

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This better happen.

GB54;531720 said:

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Choke City. Solo was awful.

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Solo was very gracious in her post match interview giving due credit to the Japanese. I'm proud of her.

510Bear;531711 said:

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Abby Wambach was very gracious afterwards.

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Agreed. She showed real leadership, congratulating the other team at match's end with a smile and giving a very gracious interview.

MisterNoodle;531729 said:

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Agreed. She showed real leadership, congratulating the other team at match's end with a smile and giving a very gracious interview.

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As opposed to pulling down her pants and dancing around in circles?

I had a hard time deciding which team to root for, the one representing our country or the one from my ancestral roots, but I must admit I choked up when Japan won! Congratulations to both teams on a hard-fought game!

EBBear2009;531719 said:

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Lloyd(second pker) thought the goal was about 100 yards further than it was.

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Carli Lloyd in today's game and against Brazil, seem to kick at one speed..100 miles a hr and also high! Her play really disappointed me being that she is one of the vet of the team.

Agureghian;531721 said:

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indeed. she did not live up to the hype at all.

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I think Hope was injured which threw her off her usual great game....she is pretty much the best womans goalie out there...and most students of the game admit that...but something happened with that injury that kept her from performing her best.....it was our let down on defense in front of the goal that killed us

MisterNoodle;531727 said:

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Solo was very gracious in her post match interview giving due credit to the Japanese. I'm proud of her.

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+1

In other soccer news today, Brazil got eliminated from the Copa America in the shootout series, after going 0 for 4 there...

Lived by miracle goals. Died by miracle goals.

FingeroftheBear;531748 said:

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You can tell the true winners by how they lose. Team USA was gracious, including the coach. Nice to see it.

That said, it's a cliche but the Japanese had destiny, karma and fate...and a bunch of hope back home. That and man was their team loose and ready...in the final team huddle their coach had a sh*t eating grin on his face like nothing to lose. For opposing teams that's freaky. Also it seems Team USA tightened up in the PK.

Excellent final game.

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Sometimes it just helps to be an underdog, and it's not easy being a favorite. We Cal fans can appreciate that after all the preseason hype we've had from 2005-09.....

Solo is among the best goalies in the Women's Game, but she had a bad game today.

Personally, I don't like her, or at least the persona I get from watching her on TV and from the media.

I also don't like the fact that ESPN seems to be pushing/selling her too hard.

I hate to say it but...we lost kinda this one in the same way that Cal loses a lot of its games...

GBFL;531753 said:

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I hate to say it but...we lost kinda this one in the same way that Cal loses a lot of its games...

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Are you a Cal fan? Do you watch the games? We don't have alot of last second wins or losses. Normally, Cal wins or loses decisively. I can tell a win from a loss by halftime normally.

GBFL;531753 said:

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I hate to say it but...we lost kinda this one in the same way that Cal loses a lot of its games...

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It's not just Cal. This is the way a lot of games are lost in all sports. Have the momentum early--push, push, push and no scores; whether it be men on base in baseball/softball, field goals instead of TDs in FB, etc. So many times when the more aggressive, early dominator does not get the job done, it comes back to bite them. Not just Cal. In soccer, it is "net the friggin' ball" period. Our bad. Congrats to Japan.

likwid1;531757 said:

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Are you a Cal fan? Do you watch the games? We don't have alot of last second wins or losses. Normally, Cal wins or loses decisively. I can tell a win from a loss by halftime normally.

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I guess it depends what you mean by "don't have a lot of last second wins or losses" - if you mean less than half of Cal's games are like that, you're right. But I agree with the GBFL, we do have quite a few.

Exhibit A - our most recent game against UW was a heartbreaking loss on the last play of the game. Our loss to Oregon 2 games before that may not have been last second but it was pretty effin' close. And our loss to Arizona qualifies too I think: Zona scores a TD to go up 10-9 with just over a minute left and then intercepts Riley on a ball off the receivers fingertips that would have been a big gain on a drive towards a would-be game-winning FG for the Bears.

And if you go back the year before that (2009), our Big Game win with the Prophet's pick was seriously in doubt until the last few seconds. Our 23-21 win at ASU was on a Tavecchio field goal with 24 seconds left. And the home win against Zona that year was in doubt until the last 2-3 minutes when Foles threw his double pass (and even when Vereen scored after that, we missed the XP and were only up by 8, leaving time for a final failed Wildcat drive).

Even our bowl game in '08 came down to the last minute. And this isn't even going back to our classic last second wins at Oregon in '07 and vs. SC in '03 or the last second loss to the Beavers in '07 on the ill-fated KR run...

Alex Morgan played an incredible game, but Japan was the team of destiny....awesome game from literally the first minute to the last.

USA dominated in the first half, but didn't score. Then Alex used her speed and power to hit the ball perfectly into the far corner. At that time, it looked like the game winner....but Japan didn't panic and tied it (USA defender should have just booted it out of bounds).

Then Alex makes another great play after two touches and a perfect cross.

But Japan scored on a brilliant set play...too fast to even see what happened but Japan's star made the play.

Once it got into penalty kicks, I'm afraid Japan had us exactly where they wanted us. Our size and speed no longer mattered.

Hats off to both teams.

I am living abroad, just downloaded the game to watch and didn't expect for the result to be spoiled on this board....... be careful

barr2dawkins;531833 said:

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I am living abroad, just downloaded the game to watch and didn't expect for the result to be spoiled on this board....... be careful

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Good luck with that.

I am no soccer strategist. However, it seemed to me that every time the US got a lead our strategy changed to sit back and play defense. The soccer version of the prevent defense. Unfortunately our defense proved to not be our strength and shortly after Japan tied the game - twice.

I don't think not scoring early would have mattered. We would have gone to a prevent defense earlier and Japan would have tied it earlier. We should have stayed aggressive until we had at least a 2 goal lead. Especially since we were clearly a superior team when on the offensive.

barr2dawkins;531833 said:

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I am living abroad, just downloaded the game to watch and didn't expect for the result to be spoiled on this board....... be careful

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Yes, because the place to go to for not getting sporting news is a sports message board.

"Prevent" works well in soccer though because your chances of scoring on a counterattack are very good. One reason the US dropped off late in the game is that there was only 1 substitution. You'd think that a deep team like the US would have finished stronger with two extra fresh players in the middle of the 2nd half.

Looking at both Japan goals, Solo is completely blameless. The second one was deflected by Wambach's hand. Credit the attacker's quickness for scoring the first one, she hit the ball very early and decisively from th mouth of the goal, indefensible. One of several very technical goals Japan has scored in this tournament.

GB54;531720 said:

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Choke City. Solo was awful.

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I don't think you can pin this loss on Solo. As the keeper she IS responsible for the defense. They were mostly successful in thwarting Japan's sophisticated and possession oriented attack. Give Japan some credit for causing the confusion in the back line on the first goal - and even that goal was a bit unlucky for the US as that ball was cleared but for the second defender who should have been marking Miyama getting in the way. Miyama was there to clean up the mess.
On the corner kick goal Solo had no chance. In fact I think the US was caught a bit off guard. If I remember correctly almost every corner to that point, Japan conceded to the much taller US team and played the ball short to the corner of the penalty area. On the last corner Japan was in a conventional corner set up but played a short kick that barely reached the goal area.
Again give Japan credit. Sawa ran across from the top of the goal area, gaining a step on her mark to meet the ball on the goal area line and deflect it in with some power. This was obviously a well practiced set piece executed to perfection. Again, Solo had no chance on that play.
On the kicks from the penalty mark, Solo played admirably. The penalty mark is 12 yards from the goal line. A well kicked ball reaches the goal in .5 seconds. A keeper can reach the corner of the goalpost in .6 seconds. Basically the keeper must start to lean/dive just before the ball is struck. The keeper has to guess which side to dive to. Saving one ball out of the five should be enough to win the shootout. Solo did that. The fact that the Japanese keeper saved the first goal with her foot! means she guessed correctly on her dive and started before the ball was struck. Her second save was also on a good guess but that was a poorly struck ball. The Japanese keeper knew the US tendencies. Even so, the US kickers should have found the goal. Wambach's goal was a clinic on how it's done.
All this is not even counting all the opportunities the US offense missed. They could have easily had two more goals.
This loss is not on Solo.

It's frustrating how soccer results often seem so arbitrary. The US controlled the ball for most of the game, and by many accounts played a better match. To Japan's credit, they never gave up and kept pressing, and their aggressive substitutions seemed to work. But, both of the Japanese goals seemed fortunate, especially the first one. Whereas, it seems very unfortunate that the US didn't have about 4 goals by halftime.

I don't think I'm just being a homer because the US certainly had it's share of seemingly lucky victories as well...arguably the wins against Brazil and France both qualify, not to mention the mens' win over England last year.

Besides, is there any more unsatisfying way to see a game end than the capricious "shootout." I'd rather see sudden-death overtime until someone scores or until they all drop. Can you imagine if the World Series was decided by a home run derby? Or if after one overtime in NBA, the Championship was decided by a free-throw contest? What if the Superbowl was decided by best of 5 field goals from the 35 yard line? Forget hockey, that sport is a whole other mess.

But my point is, it's not just the shootout that seems arbitrary, but the game as a whole. In a game were scoring is so rare, and where matches are often decided by 1-0 or 2-1 margins, there's waaaay too much room for luck .

Calcoholic;531992 said:

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not to mention the mens' win over England last year.

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Actually, it was a tie. But yeah, definitely lucky.

Calcoholic;531992 said:

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It's frustrating how soccer results often seem so arbitrary. The US controlled the ball for most of the game, and by many accounts played a better match. To Japan's credit, they never gave up and kept pressing, and their aggressive substitutions seemed to work. But, both of the Japanese goals seemed fortunate, especially the first one. Whereas, it seems very unfortunate that the US didn't have about 4 goals by halftime.

I don't think I'm just being a homer because the US certainly had it's share of seemingly lucky victories as well...arguably the wins against Brazil and France both qualify, not to mention the mens' win over England last year.

Besides, is there any more unsatisfying way to see a game end than the capricious "shootout." I'd rather see sudden-death overtime until someone scores or until they all drop. Can you imagine if the World Series was decided by a home run derby? Or if after one overtime in NBA, the Championship was decided by a free-throw contest? What if the Superbowl was decided by best of 5 field goals from the 35 yard line? Forget hockey, that sport is a whole other mess.

But my point is, it's not just the shootout that seems arbitrary, but the game as a whole. In a game were scoring is so rare, and where matches are often decided by 1-0 or 2-1 margins, there's waaaay too much room for luck .

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It's no more arbitrary then a team who outgains the other in football by a 4-1 ratio in yardage, but repeatedly turns it over in the red zone (or misses field goals, or turns it over on 4th and goal, etc.). Look at our game against USC in 2004. We totally dominated the yardage, but we had a couple crucial turnovers, some special teams mistakes, and couldn't convert when it counted.

I would agree with that. It's not any more arbitrary than the scenario you described. But those kinds of results seems to occur more often in soccer than American football.

Calcoholic;531992 said:

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It's frustrating how soccer results often seem so arbitrary. The US controlled the ball for most of the game, and by many accounts played a better match. To Japan's credit, they never gave up and kept pressing, and their aggressive substitutions seemed to work. But, both of the Japanese goals seemed fortunate, especially the first one. Whereas, it seems very unfortunate that the US didn't have about 4 goals by halftime.

I don't think I'm just being a homer because the US certainly had it's share of seemingly lucky victories as well...arguably the wins against Brazil and France both qualify, not to mention the mens' win over England last year.

Besides, is there any more unsatisfying way to see a game end than the capricious "shootout." I'd rather see sudden-death overtime until someone scores or until they all drop. Can you imagine if the World Series was decided by a home run derby? Or if after one overtime in NBA, the Championship was decided by a free-throw contest? What if the Superbowl was decided by best of 5 field goals from the 35 yard line? Forget hockey, that sport is a whole other mess.

But my point is, it's not just the shootout that seems arbitrary, but the game as a whole. In a game were scoring is so rare, and where matches are often decided by 1-0 or 2-1 margins, there's waaaay too much room for luck .

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It seemed that the US dominated possession, especially in the first half, but I believe the final numbers were 53% possession for Japan.

But your point re other sports not deciding things this way is well taken. Even the NHL, whether it a mess or not, does not decide real games via shootouts, only regular season games.