Winning

I know many of you arn't soccer fans, and I'll be honest, if there is a random game on the teli (men or women), i usually dont get into it, even as a former player. But, every four years brings the fun of the Women's World Cup, and I get all kinds of giddy. I think growing up playing against (and with on some teams) a former member of team USA adds to this. Plus our team also pretty bad ass, so that helps too. The tournament is going on right now in Germany. So far, it's been pretty uneventful. We've won 2, loss 1, which allowed us to advance to the quarterfinals today against Brazil. BIG rivarly there. They have the world's best player on their team. I give you:

Marta.

Guess her age? I figured at least 34. That chick is 25 years old. The Brazilian sun must be brutal. She has 78 career international goals and 5 FIFA player of the year awards. Impressive is an understatment.

But, lets get back to the game.

The game got exciting right off the bat. One of the brazilian players mishit the ball in the box and scored an own goal for us. USA 1-Brazil-0

The rest of the half was pretty uneventful, but we put together some very pretty combo plays, although they didnt amount to opportunities. About half way through the second half, things began to get dicey. One of our defenders made a slightly questionable tackle in our box, which resulted in a penalty kick and a red card for her (which means she is out of the game and we cant replace her) Pk's are nerve racking, but our goalie, Hope Solo is a badass (and also the most likely to pose for Playboy, in my opinion) The brazilian player lined up, kicked, and Hope blocked it! (very hard to do) Excitement ensued until the line ref blows her whistle and calls it back. (Rule check: During a penalty kick, a goalie can move horizontal along the goal line, but cant not come off the line) The ref said Hope came off, so the kick must be redone. The second attempt is good. So we are now USA-1 Brazil-1. During the rest of the half we get several yellow cards (unlady-like shoving) and we are still playing a woman down. (10 vs 11)

The second half ends. It's overtime. Two 15 minute halves.

We are tired, play gets a bit sloppy, but no one gave up. It was incredible. Late in the first overtime half, the Brazilians put together an incredible combo on the corner by the goal. A cross gets off and Marta pulls off the most amazing foot flick thing ive ever seen and pops it off the sidebar for a goal. USA-1 Brazil-2.

The second over time was even more sloppy and you really just felt exhausted for them. By this point our gals have been playing a player down for almost an hour. We get several shots on goal in the next 15 minutes, but all were either off center or too high. The regulation time is almost up and extra time is about to start (extra time is added to each half to make up for time spent hustling hurt players off the field and general wastes of time) The Brazilians are minutes away from moving onto the semis, and are all about stalling for time. Ive seen many methods to do this in the past, but this one took the cake. After a play ended, a Brazilian player turns around, walks towards her goals and just falls down. No one is around her. She grabs her back as if in agonizing pain. They bring out a stretcher and cart her off (all the while about 4 minutes have been wasted) No sooner do they get her off the field, does she sit up, rip off the restraints, run up the sideline and insert herself back into the game. This is dirty dirty not to mention a blatant waste of time, and she should have gotten carded (if she didnt). So we are now in stoppage time and because of her stunt, Team USA has a few more minutes to work a miracle.

Lucky for us, that miracle came in the form of Abby Wamback's head.

You should have seen me in the living room. I was screaming.

USA-2 Brazil-2

After double over time, we go into penalty kicks. Each team chooses 5 players and they alternate taking a shot against the opposing goalie. These are always guaranteed to be nail biters. The video for this is about 7 minutes long so i'll give you the highlights. We actually miss our first goal, but that pesky rule from before about a goal coming off their line finally bites Brazil in the ass and we re-shot and make the goal. After a few shots, we are up 3-2 and it's Brazil's turn. She shoots, and Hope Solo makes an AMAZING save to deny the Brazilians a goal. We then go up 4-2 after making our next goal. I'll let you watch the rest:

I love happy endings. Next stop, semifinals against France!