The big question before today's semi-final World Cup soccer game was how would the U.S. women arrive after the dramatic and exhausting victory three days ago? Would they be emotionally let-down? Tired? Over-confident?
The U.S. Womens soccer team literally rode a wave en route to a 3-1 victory against France. They were on top of the wave as they began the game with confidence, and were obviously the better team. Once again they scored early (9 minutes in). However, by the end of the first half, France was the dominating team and had several good opportunities to score. They started the second half the same, and shortly after, the wave came crashing down on the U.S. as France scored the equalizer. They continued to dominate afterwards. The U.S. hung on for dear life, and France had several chances to take the lead.
The quality we admire most about this U.S. team is that they don't surrender under pressure. Gradually, the wave began to crest again. The U.S. regained much of the ball possession that they had lost earlier. They had some scoring chances. Finally, with about 15 minutes to go, Abby Wambach again came through on a perfect header from a perfect cross. Shortly after this sigh of relief, feisty sub Alex Morgan scored an insurance goal to clinch the victory.
This was not an easy win, as France proved to be a very formidible opponent. However, the U.S. showed their resolve again, and will now play in the Final on Sunday. Awesome victory once again!
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