God Bless America

On Saturday, USA took on Brazil for the key to the semi-finals in the women’s world cup. The game would be decided by penalty kicks only after a script of red cards, penalty re-takes, time wasting tricks and a whole lot of ‘oh no she didn’t’.

USA Women's head coach Pia Sundhage looks on after USA's historic win 

I watched the clock of reality and wondered every time the ball escaped from our offensive possession, ‘how in the hell did they pull this off?’

            I already knew the final score but here, during the replay of the game, I stare in shock. My nerves rising and falling with each pass, each gasp of the crowd, each shot and save. My eyes dart back and forth to the failing limit of time. Inside, I’m telling them to hurry. Outside, my logic knows that we win this fight but how we do it is the real miracle.  

            “No sense defending anymore,” says the announcer as USA defenders push up farther than they ever have this game, gambling with time and desperation. The team had played over an hour a man down. USA chants bellow from the crowd unimpressed with an unsportsmanlike Brazil. Bodies donning the black jersey manifest nothing but unbelievable focus. The clock reaches 118 minutes. That’s a lot of time to be discouraged. The United States were down 2-1 as the window of opportunity slowly glided shut. 

            Just like that I see the factors build to the play I have seen in the highlights. Like a time capsule, the replay isolates these fragile moments, freezing them in a time before the final result was human knowledge and the option of failure was still in its raw threat. Like a higher being I watch the players struggle with frustration and hope and yet I know what’s right before them. The fact that they don’t know is what makes me respect them even more.

            Their focus reminds me that good teams never let the components that look good on paper or the statistics of history deter them from believing in the potential of the here and now. Ten players can take on a team of “great players”. Ten players can take on what ever they need to, to keep hope alive.

             There were the refs, the bad calls and lets not forget the inexcusable and blatant unsportsmanlike conduct from Brazil. Indeed, poetic justice would prevail. Not at the hands of fate but by the skill of perseverance and athleticism.  

            But back to the time when the women’s US team didn’t know they were minuets from history. Back when they set up for penalty kicks- the cruel instrument of luck and destiny, the kind friend to calm and composure- depending on how you look at it, or what team you cheer for.

            Great wins that never get lost in the folds of the past have several things in common all while staying uniquely their own. One is the incredible feeling when a team is a group of individuals doing their jobs no matter what it takes and in doing so become a fierce unit whose barriers are insurmountable to even the most well-trained attackers.

            Great wins have glimpses of vulnerability, where the view of what could be lost is given to fans and the team. And great wins have villains where good defeats evil. We don’t get to say that everyday in the regular world but in the venue of sports we are given that paradox and every once in a while it is in fact, amazing.

            Great wins are manifested miracles in the fact that we as humans have accomplished them through our own power. It is humanistic and here, nationalistic in every sense.

            This isn’t even a final. It wasn’t a semi-final, but it was a game where our backs were against the wall and winning was the only option. Survivors survive, champions are never denied.  

            “I have no words…phenomenal,” said head coach Pia Sundhage. “Somebody’s writing this book. There’s something about the American attitude and finding a way to win. Unbelievable. It’s contagious- the great attitude, they bring the best out of each other.”

            “This is a perfect example of what this country is about,” said US forward Abby Wombach. Her goal in the 120^th minute tied the game and is officially the latest goal scored in World Cup history.

            “The history of this team, we never give up. This is a great team. Playing ten men… I don’t know if you can write a better script! We gotta win!”

            It’s true. They have to win now. And soccer has an incredible ability to easily allow the proud to fall. Hard. Only time will tell if this team can once again make the world see the American flag wave high over the women’s soccer world.