Hello everyone! We hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy. In today's blog, we will be writing about when the USWNT played Japan in the 2015 World Cup final. But first... Background knowledge.
Background Knowledge
The US beat Germany in the semi-finals a few days earlier 2-0 to make it to the World Cup final. The game took place in the BC Palace on July 5th, 2015. The starting lineup for the USWNT was: Hope Solo, Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger, Lauren Holiday, Alex Morgan, Morgan Brian, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, Julie Johnston (now Julie Ertz), and last but not least Meghan Klingenberg. Carli Lloyd was their captain and their coach was Jill Ellis. There was an attendance of 53,341 people there to watch the game. Finally, their formation was a 4-4-2.
1st Half
Japan started with kick-off and the game was on. Three minutes later in the third minute, Megan Rapinoe crossed the ball in off of a corner kick where Carli Lloyd swooped into the 18-yard box and blasted the ball into the back of the net! The US was up 1-0! Two minutes later in the fifth minute, Lauren Holiday chipped the ball into the 18-yard box where Julie Johnston back-heeled the ball towards the goal, and Carli Lloyd simply ran on to it and tapped it into the goal! The US was up 2-0 and they were only 5 minutes into the game! Eleven minutes later in the fourteenth minute, Tobin Heath crossed the ball into the 18-yard box and a Japanese defender headed the ball up, but not out. Lauren Holiday ran to meet the ball and volleyed it first time into the back of the goal! You might think it can't get any crazier but it does. Only a few seconds later in the sixteenth minute Carli Lloyd scored one of the most iconic goals of all time. Lloyd beat her defender and dribbled just past the halfway line. Then she chipped the ball right over the goalkeeper and it hit the post bouncing right into the goal! She scored that goal from the halfway mark! Not only was this an amazing goal but she also scored a hattrick in the World Cup final! A few minutes later in the eighteenth minute, Meghan Klingenberg crossed the ball into to 18-yard box where Carli Lloyd met the ball with her head but headed it just wide. Later in the twenty-fourth minute, Alex Morgan was able to cut the ball into the 18-yard box where she got a shot off but the Japanese goalkeeper was able to extend her hand and keep the ball out of the net. Then in the twenty-seventh minute, a Japanese player received the ball in the 18-yard box, turned, and scored. The score was 4-1 and the US was still winning but you could tell Japan was not giving up. The US is playing very high press forcing Japan to defend. After one minute the whistle blew and the first half was over. The score was 4-1 US. The US showed no signs of slowing down.
2nd Half
The US started with kickoff and the second half was underway. In the fiftieth minute, Carli Lloyd passed the ball to Morgan Brian who shot the ball from outside the eighteen-yard box but the Japanese goalkeeper was able to push it over the goal. Then a few minutes later in the fifty-second minute, Julie Johnston scored an own goal after attempting to try to head the ball out of the box after receiving it from a free-kick. Then two minutes later in the fifty-fourth minute, Morgan Brian passed the ball to Tobin Heath just outside the six-yard box. Heath was able to just pass the ball into the goal! The US was up 5-2! Then in the sixty-first minute, Kelley O'Hara subbed in for Megan Rapinoe. The US has been taking a lot of shots but hasn't been able to finish them. Then in the seventy-first minute, Hope Solo came off her line and punched the ball away from the goal. Then in the seventy-ninth minute, Abby Wambach was subbed in for Tobin Heath. Carli Lloyd also gave Abby Wambach the captain's armband. This was huge because it was Wambach's last World Cup game. In the eightieth minute, Hope Solo came off her line and punched the ball out after it was served in from a Japanese free-kick. She was on fire! In the eighty-second minute, Sawa from the Japanese team received a yellow card after taking down Abby Wambach. Only a few minutes later in the eighty-fifth minute, Iwabuchi for Japan got a yellow card as well. As the game was getting closer to the final whistle, you could see the desperation on the Japanese players' faces. Also in the eighty-fifth minute, the US subbed # 3, Christie Rampone, in for #13 Alex Morgan. Finally, after 3 minutes of extra time, the US was the World Cup champion!
Hope Solo got the golden glove award. Carli Lloyd got the silver boot and golden ball.
Make sure to stay safe and healthy and don't forget to check out our other blogs!
Smed, Jamie. Tobin Heath. 19 Sept. 2017. Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/
highwaytodistraction/37241235651/. Accessed 15 May 2020.
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