Hope Keeps US Alive

Sure, it's a corny title that has more ways of being interpreted than I have fingers (I still have all 10, by the way, despite people saying I would lose at least one this year after Kim got me a wood-chipper for Christmas), but is there anything more apropos after yesterday's game for the ages? And I mean that regardless of gender, regardless of World Cup games for the men or women.

Go ahead, list a better game than what we saw yesterday. You can probably count them on 1 hand. For the ups and downs, the ebb and flow, the controversy, the skill (Marta's finish in the first OT was world-class), the (literally) last-second heroics for the team that had been screwed every which way as possible by the officials, and the unreal drama of penalty kicks, this one had it all. And yes, I'm hoarse from cheering, and I freely admit I have never used as much salty language toward a woman as I did yesterday toward the "referee."

As Abby Wambach said in the postgame yesterday "It's what America is all about." It's great to hear that, because all we've heard recently in our lives is that America isn't what it used to be, our best days are behind us. That might be true in some ways, but as the U.S. Men's team showed last June, American soccer players are as gutsy, if not more so, than any other players on the planet.

There was no better example of that than in yesterday's instant classic. While this team is not yet up to the popularity of the '99 World Champs, should they win the Title 6 days from now, I think it might go down as even a more remarkable achievement. The "99-ers" never had to face the kind of adversity the '11 squad did. A referee who should never see the International arena again made more horrendous calls than I've ever seen at the professional level. The red card to Buehler won't be discussed here; that's for every other pundit to scream about. But for those who say the U.S. was lucky not to have Carli Lloyd sent off for a deliberate handball, how about virtually the same play in the U.S. penalty box when Aline, who also got a yellow in the first half, punched the ball with her fist? As far as I'm concerned, those non-calls worked out evenly. More than once was the U.S. able to get behind the Brazilians only to be called offside, and several of those were proven incorrect calls on replay. Then the obvious offside non-call on Marta's 2nd goal.

If you were like me, you had to think "what have we got to do to get a break today?" There were two collisions in the penalty area in the second OT that could have gone either way, but of course the U.S. did not receive the benefit of the doubt.

So there were no breaks to be given; instead, the U.S. made their own.

Megan Rapinoe, who should absolutely start on Wednesday, delivered a cross that should be studied by every winger in the U.S. men's player pool. I thought that if they just kept sending in long balls, Wambach would get to one of them. She did, and the roar of the crowd, who went from neutral to VERY pro-U.S. after becoming disgusted with the theatrics of the Brazilians and the incessant whining from Marta, could probably be heard in surrounding countries. I was especially taken by the absolute and pure joy from Hope Solo as she jumped up and down with her hands in the air, all alone in her penalty area, as the rest of the team swarmed Abby in the corner.

Have to admit that at first I was nervous about the penalty kicks (did our players have the legs to strike the ball well enough, or was the exhaustion too much?). Then I saw Hope. Yep, there she was, standing with her teammates, imploring them to finish an obviously more tired and deflated Brazilian team. I figured we would make at least 4 of our kicks, and that Brazil would miss at least 1. Then we would have 2 chances to win it in the final round. Just like in '99, the third kicker was the charm for the U.S. Solo's save, which maybe one of the best pure saves in PK lore (seriously, watch the replay; that was a well-taken penalty by Daiane), opened the door for the last 2 shooters. Game. Set. Match.

I have to say, that for all of Marta's wonderful play in this tournament, and for her play in the WPS and previous tournaments, she has won exactly NOTHING in International play. Can she lay claim to being the Alex Ovetchkin of women's soccer? Sorry, Caps fans (and count me as one of them), but the truth hurts.

So it's on to play France on Wednesday, less than 72 hours after going through what every player has no doubt been the most emotionally and physically exhausted as they've ever been, and try to repeat the performance. Trust me, folks, France is quite good this time around. They deserved to beat England on Saturday. But unlike the U.S. men last year, who had almost as equal a dramatic win against Algeria only to fall 3 days later to Ghana, I think the ladies do just enough to get by. Let's go with 2-1, with a late goal this time coming from Rapinoe.

Then they will move to the Final, and I'm thinking it'll be Sweden. But that's 6 days away, an eternity in a World Cup tournament. Let's just enjoy this moment for another 48 hours before we all sit down in front of our tv's Wednesday morning and prepare for another nail-biter.

Regardless of that outcome, this U.S. team deserves its' props not only in the annals of soccer history, but as a symbol that the American "character" is far from being a thing of the past.