Last Monday, at 04:00 (Japan time), the women’s soccer teams from Japan and the United States duked it out in the final match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.  Here are all of my thoughts on how the match turned out, A DEFINITE SPOILER ALERT if you are still waiting to see that epic game (and by the way, if you haven’t seen it, shame on you, it’s been almost a week, get to viewing that game already!)…

… (sorry, the more button tag is not working, so here is some awesome placeholding text)…

… JAPAN WON!

That game was one of the best soccer matches I’ve ever seen in my life.  I didn’t get up at 4:00 a.m. here to watch it, but my coworker, who is a Japanese woman and a hard core women’s soccer fan, did wake up to watch it and in retrospect, I wish I had joined her.  She and other male Japanese students in my class were thrilled at the outcome!  I, being the sleep wuss that I am, watched a replay later that day at 6:30 p.m. on the “BS” television network (bahaha!)  What a game!  Tied 1-1 at the end of the game, tied 2-2 in 30 minutes of OT, and then what a dramatic shoot out win with penalty kicks!  Supposedly, the USA women are ‘effing awesome with the PKs… but not that night.  3-2 was the final winning score.

Both the USA and Japan fought equally hard and brought their best skills to the field.  The USA team was more aggressive in the first half of the game, but they lost some of their steam in the second half.  There were no fake injuries to slow the game down, and only one “magic spray” analgesic application by the medical team for an actual, legit, gross and bleeding scrape on the knee.  Both teams played so well together and both teams played appropriately aggressive.  Japan’s team captain, Sawa, tirelessly motivated her team in the final match while also playing her heart out.  And Japan’s goalie, Ayumi Kaihori, made SO MANY AWESOME SAVES; catches, punches, and even a kick deflection during one of the PKs in the end!  I’ve never seen anything like that before.

I thought the red card on the Japanese player in OT was unnecessary… yes she tackled a player close to the box, but it was an appropriate and legit tackle.  Oh well.

Man, that game was great.  I was an edgy bundle of nerves for most of the second half and all of the post-game play AND I KNEW what the final score was already!

I think overly-aggressive male soccer players around the world, especially in the professional leagues, should take notice of the fact that soccer can be played without unnecessary aggression, violence, jersey-pulling, and fake injuries to slow the game down.  I really hate watching men’s soccer these days for those very reasons; it’s a giant testosterone festival instead of a game, in my opinion.  The MLS league is all right, those guys don’t get so aggressive and they play smart for the most part.

I think it’s very worth mentioning that both teams made it to the final match while playing on a continent which neither of their countries is on (the tournament was held in Germany).  Japan also beat the host country on their home turf… an amazing feat to say the least.

I got a little teary-eyed watching the celebration ceremony for Japan at the end of the game  This country has suffered so much this year and to have a win like this is a real moral boost for them.  I’m so happy for them!  And I’d like to get a women’s soccer t-shirt or something to commemorate the fact that I was here when they won the 2011 Women’s World Cup!