Tale of two destinies

[B]By ZOE JEWELL[/B] [I]Special to the[/I] Saipan Tribune

[B]Germany[/B]—Destiny is another word that we use to describe fate. Destiny is something that is meant to be. Destiny is the hope that no matter what the circumstances are, everything will fall into place. And for the U.S. National and the Japan National teams, one destiny was fulfilled.

Was it the U.S.? The Americans’ epic run to the World Cup final started last November when they lost in the qualifying tournament to Mexico, their first ever defeat in a qualification tournament. They eventually regrouped and beat Italy in a two-game playoff series for the last spot in the World Cup, but the Americans hopes of winning a World Cup seemed bleak.

They then lost to Sweden in the beginning of the year in penalty kicks at the Four Nations Tournament, and then lost to England in April, 2-1. Championship quality teams didn’t play this way, and it looked as if the U.S. was beginning to lose its dominance.

The women’s game has improved greatly over the past few years, both technically and tactically, and the Americans could no longer rely on their superior fitness and strength to win games. Finally, they got back on track to beat their future final opponent, Japan, 2-0 twice in May, and Mexico, 1-0, in June, but still they were not in top form.

For the Americans, the road to the World Cup was not easy. Goalkeeper Hope Solo had a possible career-ending shoulder surgery in September and only fully recovered in April. In fact, her first 90-minute game since the surgery was against Japan in May. Star forward Abby Wambach, after recovering from a broken leg in 2008, was suffering from Achilles tendonitis, something that was still plaguing her during the World Cup and veteran captain Christie Rampone was playing with Lyme disease, something she is still struggling with.

New players emerged, old ones retired, and the Americans found themselves struggling for consistency. But after the long road to the World Cup, they believed this was their destiny—that the road they had taken was in fact the one most desired. All these losses and struggles were just preparing them for victory

After beating Brazil in a thrilling quarterfinal match despite falling behind in overtime, the Americans’ destiny seemed clearer. They were two games away from a World Cup championship after defeating one of the best teams in the world and having barely qualified for the World Cup. The U.S. went on to beat a very skilled France, 3-1, to make it to the final, thanks to its ability to put away its chances.

The U.S.’ foe in the finals was Japan, a country struggling to recover from the devastating earthquake and tsunami three months before the World Cup? Players on the team had family and friends affected by the disaster and parts of their beloved country were left in ruins.

The Japanese team, though its is one of the most technical teams in the world, struggled to gauge its chances in games prior to the World Cup and it became even more evident as it lost to the U.S. in the two warm-up matches in May. The Japanese came into the tournament as a favorite to finish on top of their group but just like the U.S., the former lost their final game to England, and ended up in second place.

This left the Japanese the tough task to play the heavily favorite Germany in the quarterfinals. No one gave them a chance, but after holding Germany scoreless in regulation, Japan scored an amazing goal in overtime to stun the Germans and advance to the semifinals. The Japanese continued their winning run with a 3-1 victory over Sweden to make it to the World Cup final.

Thus came the game of destiny. Both teams had almost identical paths to the final. Each team won the first two group play games, before dropping their respective last match . In the U.S.’ win over Brazil and Japan’s victory against Germany, the finalists displayed courage and determination to pull off upsets versus the two favorite teams in the quarterfinals.

In front of a sold-out crowd of about 49,000, I watched the U.S. and Japan put on a fantastic show of soccer. The players were intense and the crowd was emotional, as people came in numbers to watch one of the finest soccer games in history.

The Americans scored first off Alex Morgan’s goal in the second half, but the Japanese equalized in the 82nd minute to send the game into overtime. The U.S.’ leading scorer, Wambach, scored her fourth goal of the tournament in overtime to give the team a 2-1 lead and it appeared the Americans were headed to victory.

However, Japan roared back, feeding off the energy from the crowd, and scored again to make it 2-2 with only three minutes left. The game was then decided on penalty kicks and the Americans suffered a big blow.

I felt after Japan scored that if it got to penalty kicks, the U.S. was going to lose. Sure, they had the best goalkeeper in the tournament and of course they made all five in the game against Brazil, but Japan had all the momentum. Sure enough, the Americans made only one out of four kicks, while Japan made three and missed only one.

Japan became the first Asian country to ever win a Women’s World Cup. Though the Americans displayed great toughness and grit during the tournament, they came out as second best. As the confetti came down and the Japanese held up the coveted World Cup, I knew destiny had prevailed. The Americans though they hadn’t won a World Cup since 1999 and were hungrier than ever, maybe didn’t need this as much as the Japanese. After all the tragedies that hit Japan in recent months, a World Cup victory seemed, well, like destiny.

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[I] Zoe Jewell is a member of the CNMI national women’s soccer team.[/I]