The U.S. went on to win 5-3 in a shootout.
I was in the bar of a restaurant in Captiva, Florida, where maybe two dozen people had gathered, a few at a time, as the game got tenser and tenser. When the US women, impossibly, won this game, there was much joy in that room, the kind of joy strangers have when they realize they all care about the same thing. We had thought our team was going to lose — we knew our team was going to lose — and damned if they didn’t win. It was an amazing, exhilarating moment. Especially if you happened to be with your 11-year-old daughter, who plays soccer.
I heard about it on the phone from my 7-year-old granddaughter.
Oh my gosh! You weren’t watching?!?!
Oh there was shouting and dancing and jumping and hugging here in the 122nd minute!
And, as a mother of three sons, I think it’s pretty cool that my ten- and seven-year-old BOYS were totally into a women’s soccer match. Girls, sure. But when boys are into a women’s sport you know something special is happening.
USA! USA! USA!
An incredible goal, but the assist was even more amazing. Goes to show you just can’t give up.