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USA SEEKS FOURTH GOLD WHEN IT FACES JAPAN IN OLYMPIC FINALE: The U.S. Women’s National Team is shooting for its fourth gold medal and third straight when it takes on 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Japan at 2:45 p.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 9, at Wembley Stadium in London. The match will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network, NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and streamed on NBC Live Extra. NBC Sports will begin its pre-game coverage at 2 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the match via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt. The USA is coming off a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory against Canada on Monday, while Japan defeated France 2-1 in the other semifinal match.
On the Air: Dial Global Radio Network will air live play-by-play coverage of the gold medal game between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Japan, with coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. ET and carried on affiliate stations across the country, as well as Sirius/XM satellite radio (Sirius 93/XM 209). For a list of Dial Global affiliates, visit dialglobalsports.com.
2012 OLYMPIC SEMIFINALS RECAP:
USA 4, Canada 3 (OT): Alex Morgan’s 123rd-minute header in the closing seconds of stoppage time in the second 15-minute overtime catapulted the U.S. past Canada in Monday’s semifinal and into the gold medal match. The U.S. trailed at three different stages as Canada’s Christine Sinclair fueled her team’s scoring punch with all three tallies. The USA had the answer each time, with Megan Rapinoe scoring the team’s first two goals and Abby Wambach notching her fifth tally in five games in this year’s Olympics – a penalty kick in the 80th minute to tie the score at 3-3 and force overtime. Wambach and Sinclair are tied for second in international goals in the history of soccer with 143 each, trailing only U.S. legend Mia Hamm (158). Wambach has nine career Olympic goals.
Japan 2, France 1: Yuki Ogimi and Mizuho Sakaguchi each scored a goal to take a 2-0 lead through 49 minutes and Japan held on for a one-goal victory on Monday. France’s Eugenie Le Sommer cut into the team’s deficit with a 76th-minute goal. The backbreaker for France was a penalty kick opportunity minutes later to earn the chance for an equalizer. Sakaguchi knocked down Le Sommer in the penalty box, awarding France the PK chance. But France captain Elise Bussaglia missed the goal completely, pushing her shot wide right as Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto anticipated Bussaglia shooting the opposite direction.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
LINEUP VS. JAPAN
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 6-Amy LePeilbet, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 16-Rachel Buehler, 5-Kelley O’Hara; 15-Megan Rapinoe, 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd, 17-Tobin Heath; 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Abby Wambach
Subs not used: 2-Heather Mitts, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 11-Sydney Leroux, 12-Lauren Cheney, 18-Nicole Barnhart
JPN: 1-Miho Fukimoto; 2-Yukari Kinga, 3-Azusa Iwashimizu, 4-Saki Kumagai, 5-Aya Sameshima; 6-Mizuho Sakaguchi, 8-Aya Miyama (capt.), 9-Nahomi Kawasumi, 10-Homare Sawa; 11-Shinobu Ohno, 17-Yuki Nagasato
Subs not used: 18-Ayumi Kaihori, 12-Kyoko Yano, 14-Asuna Tanaka, 7-Kozue Ando, 13-Karina Maruyama, 15-Megumi Takase, 16-Mana Iwabuchi
FULL TIME: The USA has won the gold medal! Carli Lloyd with both goals to lead the U.S. to a 2-1 win against Japan!
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On the Air: Dial Global Radio Network will air live play-by-play coverage of the gold medal game between the U.S. Women’s National Team and Japan, with coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. ET and carried on affiliate stations across the country, as well as Sirius/XM satellite radio (Sirius 93/XM 209). For a list of Dial Global affiliates, visit dialglobalsports.com.
2012 OLYMPIC SEMIFINALS RECAP:
USA 4, Canada 3 (OT): Alex Morgan’s 123rd-minute header in the closing seconds of stoppage time in the second 15-minute overtime catapulted the U.S. past Canada in Monday’s semifinal and into the gold medal match. The U.S. trailed at three different stages as Canada’s Christine Sinclair fueled her team’s scoring punch with all three tallies. The USA had the answer each time, with Megan Rapinoe scoring the team’s first two goals and Abby Wambach notching her fifth tally in five games in this year’s Olympics – a penalty kick in the 80th minute to tie the score at 3-3 and force overtime. Wambach and Sinclair are tied for second in international goals in the history of soccer with 143 each, trailing only U.S. legend Mia Hamm (158). Wambach has nine career Olympic goals.
Japan 2, France 1: Yuki Ogimi and Mizuho Sakaguchi each scored a goal to take a 2-0 lead through 49 minutes and Japan held on for a one-goal victory on Monday. France’s Eugenie Le Sommer cut into the team’s deficit with a 76th-minute goal. The backbreaker for France was a penalty kick opportunity minutes later to earn the chance for an equalizer. Sakaguchi knocked down Le Sommer in the penalty box, awarding France the PK chance. But France captain Elise Bussaglia missed the goal completely, pushing her shot wide right as Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto anticipated Bussaglia shooting the opposite direction.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Five players on the U.S. roster have scored in this Olympics and seven total players have scored in an Olympics: Abby Wambach (4 goals in 2004; 5 goals in 2012), Carli Lloyd (2 goals in 2008; 2 goals in 2012), Heather O’Reilly (1 goal in 2004; 2 goals in 2008), Shannon Boxx (1 goal in 2004), Amy Rodriguez (1 goal in 2008), Alex Morgan (3 goals in 2012), Megan Rapinoe (3 goals in 2012) and Sydney Leroux (1 goal in 2012).
- Morgan, Tobin Heath and Rapinoe are tied for the team lead with three assists apiece in this year’s Olympics.
- Heath earned her 50th career international cap during Monday’s win against Canada. There are now 14 players on the USA’s 2012 Olympic roster who have played in 50 or more career matches.
- Only three U.S. WNT players have been on the field for all 480 minutes in the 2012 Olympics: Solo, defender and team captain Christie Rampone and 24-year-old defender Kelley O’Hara.
- Morgan leads the U.S. WNT with 20 goals in 20 games, and she has seven multi-goal games this year.
- Morgan’s game-winning goal against Canada on Aug. 6 is now the latest tally ever by a U.S. WNT team. Her strike hit the back of the net at 122 minutes, 23 seconds. Wambach’s memorable game-tying header against Brazil in the quarterfinals of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup crossed the goal line at 121 minutes, 19 seconds.
- The USA’s 4-2 win against France marked the first time in Olympic play that the team had come back to win from a two-goal deficit. In all previous Olympic competition, the USA allowed more than one goal only three times – a 3-2 loss to Norway in the 2000 gold medal game, a 2-0 loss to Norway in the opening game of the 2008 Olympics and a 4-2 victory against Japan in the semifinal match in 2008 (the USA was down 1-0 before scoring four straight).
LINEUP VS. JAPAN
USA: 1-Hope Solo; 6-Amy LePeilbet, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.), 16-Rachel Buehler, 5-Kelley O’Hara; 15-Megan Rapinoe, 7-Shannon Boxx, 10-Carli Lloyd, 17-Tobin Heath; 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Abby Wambach
Subs not used: 2-Heather Mitts, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 8-Amy Rodriguez, 9-Heather O’Reilly, 11-Sydney Leroux, 12-Lauren Cheney, 18-Nicole Barnhart
JPN: 1-Miho Fukimoto; 2-Yukari Kinga, 3-Azusa Iwashimizu, 4-Saki Kumagai, 5-Aya Sameshima; 6-Mizuho Sakaguchi, 8-Aya Miyama (capt.), 9-Nahomi Kawasumi, 10-Homare Sawa; 11-Shinobu Ohno, 17-Yuki Nagasato
Subs not used: 18-Ayumi Kaihori, 12-Kyoko Yano, 14-Asuna Tanaka, 7-Kozue Ando, 13-Karina Maruyama, 15-Megumi Takase, 16-Mana Iwabuchi
FULL TIME: The USA has won the gold medal! Carli Lloyd with both goals to lead the U.S. to a 2-1 win against Japan!
Continue reading...