#USWNT
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| Tannen Maury, European Pressphoto Agency |
Everyone wants to cheer.
At every major tournament and at countless opportunities
throughout the sporting calendar, the novelty of embracing sport as a neutral
is written and spoken so much that it’s in danger of becoming as cliché as “the
glory hunter”. Yet, doesn’t it negate everything there is to love about
organised sport to take a backseat? Is there nothing in the world that compares
to the raw, visceral thrill of supporting through devastating losses to the
promise of glorious victory?
The reason I put that question to you before even mentioning the subject
of this post is to forewarn you, with hope of a little understanding, of my
unflinching support of the 2015 United States Women’s National Team.
A year ago, I did the same thing with the #USMNT right up
until Belgium forever laid an asterisk on the greatest game of Tim Howard’s
career. I’ll do the same in Russia and France in the next two World Cups, but
there was something special about this one. It’s been a week now, so I’m
finally ready to let it all pour out.
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| A Golden Glove, as held by Hands of Steel (Dennis Grombkowski, Getty Images) |
From the very back, it’s difficult to see a single player undeserving
of praise. Hope Solo, the greatest American goalkeeper of all time, and once
again – deservedly – the World Cup Golden Glove winner, wrote a few more pages
of her on-field legend that will hopefully push most of her off-field
controversies into the forgotten volumes of time.
Solo didn’t have the most dramatic of tournaments; her three
goals conceded came in the opening and closing games of the Americans’ race to
the title. Indeed, they scored so many and so quickly in the final that you’d
be forgiven that the two goals they let in were the most let in since February, fifteen games ago.
Their standout in defense, Julie Johnston, will hopefully be remembered
more for her unwavering strength than the slight lapses that led to the two
Japanese goals – conversely, Kelly O’Hara may be remembered more for her first
international goal against Germany in the semis than anything else she
accomplished in Canada. She may have killed off the now-former best team in the
world, but it was the team's unrelenting defense that smothered them out of the game.
In the middle, they possess perhaps the squad’s most
underrated player: Tobin Heath, the Portland midfielder consistent as both
super sub and starter, the most deserving goalscorer in any World Cup Final and
perhaps the next pillar of another golden generation, one that
includes the unshakeable duo of Morgan Brian and Lauren Holliday ahead of Meghan
Klingenberg’s defensive prowess.
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| Klingenberg Strong (Jana Chyuolova, Getty Images) |
Then there’s the electricity of playmaker Megan Rapinoe,
celebrating her birthday on the day of the final. Playing just as imaginatively
as expected in the first half, she was somewhat outshone by a team which
outplayed any and all expectations.
And, of course, there’s the frontline.
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| (Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports) |
Alex Morgan, deputised as the next leader of a team which,
for two decades, has refused to stop evolving. Perhaps she has been at her best
in the past, but she will certainly be better in the future.
Abby Wambach. She, who chased a World Cup winner’s medal so
doggedly that nothing else has existed in her life for the past few months –
not even club football – is the only one who can say which was sweeter: the
relief of personal satisfaction, or the thrill of team victory.
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| Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press |
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| Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press |
We may never see another World Cup final goal like that third;
they called her a “big-match player” everywhere from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED to
Snapchat, and she approached every game in this tournament with that clutch
mentality. In doing so, she has rewritten the script, so that if these finals
belonged to any one player, it was her.
The team as a whole have followed their own screenplay,
pushing their way through early stages that proved tougher than most would have
expected. Then, just as questions of expectation emerged, they won it all in
the most gratifying way possible: by convincingly dethroning the top-ranked
Germans in the semis, before getting revenge for Frankfurt in the final,
beating their own jointly-held record to become THE most
successful Women’s World Cup team of all time.
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| A mark of respect, amongst badges of honor (USA TODAY Sports) |
The way they have played – dramatic, skilful and, apart from
butting heads with the fiery Colombians, classy – has captured the hearts of
their fans, further solidifying the Stateside worthiness of the game of socce. Similarly, this World Cup has undoubtedly solidified the importance and
reputation of the women’s game in the global sporting conscience.
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| Clive Rose, Getty Images |
There were the giant-killing Australians, who took on Brazil and their superstar Marta to return home bereft of prize but full of pride.
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| Francois Laplante, Getty Images |
There were the French, who played their best when they were
labelled, somehow and unfairly, the underdogs as they outplayed the Germans.
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| Andy Clark, Getty Images |
There were the Cameroonians, World Cup debutants who
followed in the footsteps of their male forebears 21 years ago to become the
first African participants in a World Cup knockout stage.
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| Dan Riedlhuber, EPA |
And, of course, there were “The Lionesses”, the spirited
English women who took the entire international stage on a tour-de-force of emotion,
one that should forever maintain the relevance of women’s soccer in the “home
of football”.
Perhaps it was the wider media coverage surrounding the
event, or the expanded field of 24 teams. Perhaps it was how every one of those
teams galvanised their compatriots at home, resulting in the applause that met
the announcement of an outstanding 53, 341 attendees in BC Place for the final being
equalled with applause around the world for sport’s fastest-rising game.
Whatever it was, women’s soccer is here to stay – just as its
highest honor is to stay with its most successful combatants once again.
USA. 2015. #3
Canada. 2015. #1
Canada. 2015. #1
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| Jane Gershovich, sbisoccer.com |
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