Japan wins women’s football World Cup 2011 photos

Japan wins women’s football World Cup 2011 photos
Japanese resilience was on full display in Frankfurt on Sunday night, as the country’s female soccer team beat the top-ranked US team, becoming the first Asian team to win the women’s World Cup.

Japan twice came from behind to win the world championship in a penalty shoot-out after a fiercely fought game that was largely dominated by the US, but saw the two sides tied at the end of normal play. The US scored only one out of four penalty kicks, while Japan converted three to win the championship.

The Japanese team, nicknamed “Nadeshiko Japan” after a flower used as a metaphor for the ideal Japanese woman, is ranked fourth in the world. It had never beaten the US team, which had won the World Cup on three previous occasions.

“These small girls fought with persistence,” Norio Sasaki, the Japanese coach said, in a reference to the noticeable difference in height between the US and Japanese players. “Not one of the players gave up,” he said.

The Japanese victory comes as a much-needed boost for morale in the disaster-struck country. A vast area of the north-eastern coast remains covered in debris after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

“It gave me tremendous courage,” an elderly evacuee in tsunami-devastated Miyako, Iwate prefecture, told NHK, the public broadcaster.

The Japanese victory came as a surprise, given the US dominance throughout the final. The US took the lead with a goal by Alex Morgan with just over 20 minutes remaining in the second half. But Japan fought back with a shot from close range by Aya Miyama in the 81st minute, to leave the sides level at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.

In extra time, the US regained the lead when forward Abby Wambach put her team ahead in the 104th minute, which seemed to clinch the title for the US. But Japan came back a second time to bring the game to a tie when Homare Sawa, the 32-year old captain, equalised with three minutes remaining.

Ms Sawa, who scored five goals throughout the World Cup, was named player of the tournament.

“That was one amazing game,” said Jennifer Robertson, a Japan expert at the University of Michigan.