U.S v. Japan: It's Our Year

It all comes down to one game and that game is tonight: United States v. Japan in the Women's World Cup final, a rematch of the 2011 final.  But the realization that this is our year goes back to maybe the China game when the team picked it up a notch and continued through the semi-finals with a convincing 2-0 win over top seed Germany.

The Germans started out in control - for about 10 minutes, showing dazzling quick feet and pinpoint passing, but with nothing in the back of the net.  The U.S. received two breaks in the 63rd minute: one from the referee for not sending off Julie Johnston after a foul in the box; and the second from the tournament's leading scorer, Celis Saic, who sent the ensuing penalty kick wide left.  Nine minutes later a foul on Germany, which may have been outside the penalty area, led to a PK that Carli Lloyd nailed.

Lloyd has been player of the match in the last two games.

All this has brought a well-deserved round of favorable publicity to Lloyd.  Juliet Macur wrote in the New York Times after the victory over China, "In a significant way, then, with Coach Jill Ellis willing to tinker but not to renovate, this has become Lloyd’s team. As Lloyd showed against China, she can be the engine that makes it run at full speed and the leader who may decide how far it will go."

Today Macur wrote about Lloyd's former high school coach, Rudy Klobach, of Delran High School, whom I knew when he coached Carli in high school and she played on the club team that Joe Dadura and I coached. Sadly Rudy passed away back in January, much too early at age 70.
 

 People ask me about Carli and I tell them it never gets old seeing her play at this level, and especially the success she  has realized in this Cup.  I see the Facebook posts of our former Medford Strikers team supporting Carli and I know we will all be watching tonight - hopefully seeing her hoist the Cup.

My prediction: United States 2, Japan 1.