Women's World Cup 2015
By Jane C.
As some of us may know, the 2015 Women’s World Cup took place this past summer. It was held throughout Canada with matches taking place in six different provinces. The games were played on artificial turf, rather than grass, which was a controversial decision because many people thought it was unfair and more dangerous. Artificial turf has been shown to lead to more injuries than grass, especially when competitors are wearing cleats meant for grass. Canada was selected as the host country after the only other country competing to host the games, Zimbabwe, dropped out of the running in 2011. 24 teams qualified for the first round and were split into six separate groups.
Twenty-four teams qualified for the first stage of the competition, and the 24 were split into six groups. Eight teams were eliminated in the first round, and another eight teams’ dream ended in the sixteenth round. The teams that were eliminated ranged from the previous winner, Norway, to first time competitors, Ivory Coast. In the quarterfinals, China and Australia were taken out of contention. China lost 1-0 to the United States, who had been hoping for their third World Cup title. Lloyd, who scored an amazing six goals in the tournament, scored the lone goal for the United States. In another match, Australia lost 1-0, against the 2011 winner, Japan. Iwabuchi from Japan scored her first and only goal of the tournament to win the game. Later on, Germany defeated France 5-4 in overtime after the match resulted in a 1-1 tie. Lavogez unfortunately missed a chance to score, losing the game for her country. The host country, Canada, played England and lost in a close 2-1 match. England players Taylor and Bronze scored back-to-back goals in the 11th and 14th minutes of the game to push England into the lead. Sinclair scored at the end of the first half for Canada, but the score stayed the same throughout the second half. These results earned England, Germany, the United States, and Japan a place in the semifinals.
The United States and Germany both fought hard for their ticket to the finals. The Americans won 2-0 with a free kick taken by Lloyd and a late goal scored by O’Hara to finish the Germans off. Then, the Japanese had to fight the English for their spot in the finals. It was a close match with Miyama scoring for Japan and Williams scoring for England in the first half. Bassett finally scored for Japan during the two minutes of added time to win the game. It was the United States against Japan competing for the World Cup title!
Japan had beaten the United States in the previous competition, and they were battling it out again. However, after the first five minutes, it was evident who the winner was going to be. The game was kicked off with two amazing goals by Lloyd; both scored within the first five minutes. Less than ten minutes later, Holiday smashed a volley into the back of the net after a Japanese defender failed to clear the ball. Then, only a single minute after the third goal of the game, Lloyd scored again, giving her her first hat trick, which is three goals in one game, with the women’s national team. However, the first half did not end without a goal from the opposing team, with Ogimi scoring Japan’s first goal of the night. However, the second half did not go quite as well as the first for the United States. Seven minutes into the second 45 minutes, Julie Johnston scored a goal for the United States, which was devastating. Luckily, Heath scored just two minutes later for the United States, pushing the score up to 5-2. The score remained the same for the last 36 minutes, handing the United States the World Cup win. It was an exciting summer for the United States team as they achieved their dream once again.