Even the president chimed in with congratulations.
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This win certainly takes pressure off the team after ending its 16-year span without a title.
“We always say that every women’s World Cup is special and another milestone in the development of women’s football and I truly believe that this seventh edition of FIFA women’s World Cup Canada has made history in many ways”, said Tatjana Haenni, the FIFA deputy director of the competitions division and head of women’s football.
154 – Seconds it took before Lloyd gave Team U.S. the lead in the Women’s World Cup final.
She eventually accepted a scholarship to play for Becky Burleigh because the challenge of building a Florida program that had only been in existence for three years, appealed to her more than joining the 15-time National Champion North Carolina Tarheels.
Solo, who hasn’t spoken to the media for most of the tournament, proclaimed simply: “We did it!” She had a very good game!
It was the flawless ending to cap off a truly incredible career. The U.S.’s collective defense was a constant in this tournament, and the attacking power revealed itself in the most ruthless of ways in the World Cup final.
Why it matters: It may ultimately be inconsequential, but for a fleeting moment, Carli Lloyd became a major thing on Twitter across the country.
“When you go through a tournament of seven games, there are peaks and valleys”, Ellis said. “Players get hot, and you ride the players that are hot”.
Lloyd had come up big before, scoring the winning goals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals. Both scored six goals and had one assist in the tournament, but Sasic played fewer minutes than Lloyd, which granted her the award. After Lauren Holliday made it 3-0 with a volley past Japanese keeper Ayumi Kaihori in the 14th minute, Lloyd completed her hat-trick just two minutes later with an extraordinary goal from half-way after spotting the keeper off her line.
Japan got on the board with a goal from Yuki Ogimi, ending the United States’ streak of not allowing a goal at 540 minutes. Lloyd obviously pulled off the miraculous Sunday night in Vancouver, putting the game into the Americans’ pockets with those two immediate lightning strikes, then adding a goal for the ages from a step short of halfway down the field.
Lloyd’s hat-trick was the first time ever in the history of Women’s World Cup final scored in just 16 minutes, and only the second in the history of World Cup Final. The 1999 Women’s World Cup included 32 matches (15 doubleheaders, two standalone games). “But we all held together, we all stayed the course, we executed the game plan”. The team’s coach, Jill Ellis said there was more than just a little smoke in the air from the burning wildfires. Sunday’s New York Times Sports Section did not mention the championship match between the USA and Japan until page 5. After a slow start, the Americans began to play their best soccer at the quarterfinal stage, led by Lloyd’s midfield brilliance and clutch goals.
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By any sporting standard, it was mission accomplished as Lloyd helped re-write the World Cup record book.
