This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Everybody probably should have seen this coming.
Now that we know the ending of this Women's World Cup, the obvious clues were there throughout Sunday's final. The Americans just could not finish.
This outcome, determined by penalty kicks following a 2-2 tie, was not a case of choking, necessarily. The Americans showed too much poise in this tournament to be accused of that. This was not a matter of celebrating prematurely, either. If anyone should have known these games were not over when one team took a late lead, it was these women.
Yet regardless of how or why it happened, or the way Japan's courageous effort deserved to be rewarded, this is the painful truth: The Americans blew it.
The team that persevered through tough games, miraculously beating Brazil in the quarterfinals and then outlasting France with a late flurry in the semifinals, could have taken control of Sunday's final with Japan at Frankfurt, Germany.
The U.S. players missed so many thrilling, agonizing scoring chances in the first half that it became evident this was going to be Japan's game.
Even when substitute Alex Morgan's left-footed strike gave the Americans the lead in the 69th minute.
Even when Abby Wambach's header sent them ahead again in overtime.
And those exhilarating moments morphed into this irony: The team that thrived in adversity seemingly could not handle success.
Twice given a lead, "They didn't quite know what to do with it," said Rich Manning, the University of Utah's soccer coach.
The result was a missed opportunity. This team that was so entertaining, so inspiring, ultimately became disappointing.
To lose this way? "I just found it pretty shocking," said Ute senior Lauren Porter.
Even so, the final was riveting — "Definitely a well-played game; the level of women's soccer is so good right now," Manning said — and Japan's team is difficult to dislike. Just as in last weekend's U.S. rally against Brazil, one team's collapse is another team's story of heart and resilience.
And to examine the statistics of Japan's quarterfinal upset of host Germany and the stunning defeat of the Americans is to conclude, as Manning did, that "an element of fate" came into play.
"All that being said," Manning added, "two pretty simple mistakes were made."
And those will be haunting. On Japan's first goal, the U.S. defenders failed to clear the ball in front of the net, while goalkeeper Hope Solo could have been more assertive.
And then in overtime, Manning was warning anyone who would listen — his wife and brother, in this case — that Homare Sawa was dangerous on a corner kick, and Wambach should have been assigned to mark her.
Sure enough, Sawa found a way to score, and Japan went on to win.
What a letdown. This World Cup team advanced women's sports, and soccer specifically, but the ending was unsatisfying.
As a collegiate player, Porter loved the way women's soccer was embraced, how "people came out of the woodwork" and showed interest in the sport, becoming captivated by the U.S. team. Porter watched the final via a laptop on a flight to Atlanta, while passengers cheered wildly each time the Americans scored and appeared certain to win.
Except they didn't. Ask anybody who knows soccer and they'll tell you this can happen, with one team dominating the game, only to lose. "We play that same game 20 times, we probably win 18," Manning said.
Too bad one of those rare outcomes actually occurred Sunday, when signs of the ending were evident from the start.
kkragthorpe@sltrib.comTwitter: @tribkurtfacebook.com/kurtkragthorpe