Thursday, August 09, 2012

2012 Olympics Watch-This Time It's For The Gold Medal

The last time Japan and Team USA clashed with a title on the line it was during the the 2011 Women's World Cup final in Frankfurt, Germany.   Japan was recovering from the March earthquake and  tsunami that devastated the northeastern part of the country, and the Nadeshiko Japan rode that wave of international goodwill and determined play to go on a World Cup run that ended with a stunning penalty kick shootout win over Team USA and the FIFA world title..   

It's a year later, and the stage is now a sold out Wembley Stadium and the Olympic Final.   Once again it's Japan and Team USA battling for women's soccer supremacy, and once again the USA comes into the match with the history on their side.   They have won four out of the five Olympic titles since women's soccer became part of the Olympic program in 1996 and are working on a gold medal threepeat .

They also have bitter memories of that loss in Germany and want to atone for it.

"It's definitely redemption," said Carli Lloyd. But it's also opportunity to show that we're the No. 1 team in the world. This game is going to be different. We're a different team. Japan's a different team, and we're ready to bring it."

FIFA world champion Japan wants to make more history and prove their penalty kick shootout win over  the FIFA women's world number one ranked team USA wasn't a one hit wonder.

We'll find out at 1 PM CDT which team takes home the gold.  (Stop hatin', Canada)
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