U-20 Women's World Cup Third Place Match Decided on One Goal
The Under-20 United States National Women's Team took the field tonight against Japan for a shot at Third Place in the U-20 Women's World Cup, and the game was decided by a score of 1-0.
The first half was slow for the first 15 minutes, but the Japanese slowly picked things up. Eventually, they began to get shots on goal. Including a couple that barely sailed over the crossbar, and a couple others that rolled just outside of the goal posts. And that's not counting the ones that American goalkeeper Casey Murphy actually had to corral or block herself. The U.S. were on the defensive the entire half, and were actually fortunate that the first half ended tied at 0-0.
At the start of the second half, the Americans came out with a determination to score. They held the ball on the Japanese side of the field longer in the opening minutes than they had the entire first half. The Japanese, however, held steadfast and didn't let a goal in. By the 65th minute, the second half was starting to mirror the first half. Japan attacked and attacked, while the U.S. was forced to defend. Though things were looking bleak, it was the 80th minute, and the Americans hadn't allowed a goal. For the next six minutes, the game played out the way it had been all day. Then, in the 87th minute, there was a breakthrough, just not an American one. Japan's Mami Ueno had run up the left side of the field and ended up in the penalty box. The ball ended up at her feet a couple of yards from the box's boundary line, and she took a low-arching chip shot towards the goal. Murphy was completely unprepared for it and the ball sailed over her head, passed the right goal post, and with room to spare underneath the crossbar. The Japanese had taken a 1-0 lead very late in the game. As much as I hated to see it go in, it was quite the remarkable shot.
The United States still had three regulation minutes, plus stoppage time to go, but that shot really seemed to sink their hearts. With the American seemingly drained out, Japan held on, and their lone goal was enough to get the third place medal.
