A Resilient Team Soothes a Nation

New York Times published:july 17,2011FRANKFURT — Japan won its first Women’s World Cup on Sunday in a triumph built on hope, renewal, patience, composure and no small amount of good fortune, lifting a stricken country and somehow winning a match that the United States frequently dominated but could never control.

In the end, Japan prevailed in a penalty-kick shootout, 3-1, after regulation and 30 minutes of overtime ended at 2-2. Its sophisticated passing attack was blunted by a determined American defense, but Japan remained calm and resilient, twice overcoming American leads and remaining unyielding in its hustle and determination.

Its persistence was finally rewarded with fortuitous bounces of the ball that led to both Japanese goals and a volley of missed American chances that went just wide or clanged off the crossbar and the goalpost. And when the game was distilled to the ruthless determination of penalty kicks, Japan remained steadfast while the Americans demonstrated a rare loss of equanimity.

If Japan was said to be lucky, it made its own luck. Until Sunday, it was 0-22-3 against the United States, but in a single evening, this formerly one-sided rivalry tipped in the other direction in the sport’s most important game.

“My football god made it possible to win against the United States for the first time,” Coach Norio Sasaki said. “I think I definitely got some help.”

Japan’s victory came four months after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the country’s northeast coast, killing more than 15,000 people and displacing thousands more, including one of the professional Japanese women’s teams, which was forced to cancel its season. During the tournament, the national team said repeatedly that it hoped its success might inspire and bring pride to those at home.

“They kept saying they would bring courage to the victims of the quake disaster,” NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting network, said early Monday in celebrating the world championship.

In Tokyo, fans began hugging and cheering and spilling into the streets, heading for trains. News reports led with the World Cup result. Television Asahi called it “a historic victory.”

“The Japanese islands celebrate,” it said.

The United States will long regret its missed opportunities in a match that it might have won, 4-1, instead of losing in a shootout. But Japan never submitted. Each time the Americans took the lead, the Japanese pounced to even the score.

“When the Americans score a goal, they stop moving their feet,” Sasaki said. “We saw that.”

After Alex Morgan put the United States ahead, 1-0, on a rocketing shot in the 69th minute, Japan took advantage of a clumsy American mistake on defense. In the 81st minute, Rachel Buehler made a desperate clearance attempt, but her pass deflected from Ali Krieger to the onrushing Japanese midfielder Aya Miyama.

Her side-footed shot beat a defenseless Hope Solo in the American goal to tie the score at 1-1 and force 30 minutes of overtime.

“We ran and ran,” Homare Sawa, the Japanese captain, said. “We were exhausted, but we kept running.”

In the 104th minute, forward Abby Wambach did what she does more expertly than any women’s soccer player — head the ball into the net on a cross by Morgan. The United States was in the lead, 2-1, but it was a nervous lead. Again Japan found a response.

In the 117th minute, Sawa, 32, playing in her fifth World Cup, redirected a corner kick that deflected off Wambach into the net, tying the score at 2-2. It was Sawa’s fifth goal of the tournament, none more urgent than this one. Now the final was extended to penalty kicks.

Twelve years ago, the Americans won the Women’s World Cup in a shootout against China. In the quarterfinals of this tournament, they prevailed again in a stirring shootout against Brazil. But the Americans appeared less buoyant this time, having surrendered the lead instead of rescuing the game with another late rally.

“It seemed there was more pressure on the Americans compared with our team,” Sasaki said. “We said, ‘Look, we made it all the way into the final and into the penalty shootout, that is something for us.’ It took some pressure off. Maybe the situation was easier to handle for the Japanese team. We came from behind, so from a psychological viewpoint, it was easier in the shootout.”

Shannon Boxx, the first American shooter, was thwarted by a kick save from Ayumi Kaihori. That seemed to unnerve and deflate the United States. Carli Lloyd ballooned her kick. Kaihori made another save on Tobin Heath. Only Wambach had the poise to make her penalty kick for the Americans.

“I did get support in the shootout — the Americans missed,” Kaihori said. She added: “In a shootout, I just have to believe in myself. I was very self-confident. I just wanted to save all those shots coming at me.”

With a chance to earn a victory that once seemed beyond reach, the Japanese midfielder Saki Kumagai put her hands on her hips, stretched her arms and put her shot into the top left corner.

“There are really no words,” Wambach said. “We were so close.”

The Japanese players raced together in celebration, were showered by confetti, and then held up a banner that said, in reference to international disaster relief, “To our friends around the world, thank you for your support.”

With each victory in this World Cup, Japan’s confidence seemed to blossom like the pink flower for which the team is nicknamed. It had never before defeated a European team, but it put aside Germany and Sweden. Then it won the tournament, surviving the caprice of penalty kicks against the United States.

“If any other country was to win this, then I’m really happy and proud for Japan,” Lloyd said. “Deep down inside, I really thought it was our destiny to win it. But maybe it was Japan’s.”

It was a remarkable turnaround for Japan against the Americans, whom they had lost to three times this year. At a pair of exhibition defeats in the United States in May, the team had appeared dazed from the earthquake and tsunami, according to Julie Foudy, a former American captain who is friends with Sawa.

Foudy said that she had talked to Sawa after the second exhibition in the United States and that she had replied, “We’ll be fine.”

“But you could tell things weren’t fine,” Foudy said before Sunday’s final. “You could see how the Japanese were more weighed down. Sad. They were just starting to have some optimism after all that shock and horror. They look like a totally different team here.”

A team that is now on top of the world.