Olympics 2012: U.S. women's soccer wins gold medal match over Japan
This marks the third straight Olympic gold for the American women.
Lloyd's first strike came in the eighth minute off an assist from Alex Morgan. In the 54th minute, Lloyd scored again after receiving a pass from Megan Rapinoe at midfield, then dribbling through the Japanese defense and firing a shot past keeper Fukumoto Miho and into the left corner from 20 yards out.
Japan cut the lead in half in the 63rd minute, as Ogimi Yuki collected the ball inside the 6-yard line and found the back of the net after a scrum in front of the U.S. goal.
Lloyd was the best player on the field for the U.S—a consistent offensive threat, as well as a big factor in the midfield and on defensive end. In the 28th minute, about 40 yards from goal, she blasted a shot that ricocheted of a Japanese defender’s head and off the inside of the post. Lloyd's goals today were her third and fourth of the competition.
Lloyd scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal match at the Beijing Olympics against Brazil four years ago.
The Americans survived several close calls. U.S. keeper Hope Solo came up big on several occasions but was fortunate on others.
In the 17th minute, Japanese attacker Ogimi beat Solo with a shot, but U.S. captain Christie Rampone was there to make a save off the goal line. Less than a minute later, Solo made a brilliant save off a Ogimi shot.
Solo got another bit of luck in the 33rd minute, when a 15-yard strike by Shinobu Ohno glanced off the crossbar for a U.S. goal kick. In the 37th, Ohno, this time from outside the box, put a shot just wide of the right post.
In the 83rd minute, Solo returned Rampone's favor. Rampone was dispossessed deep in the U.S. half by midfielder Tanaka Asuna, who was one-on-one with Solo but was denied a goal by a diving save from the American keeper.
The American women were fortunate to hold a one-goal lead at halftime. The Lloyd goal seemed to spark Japan, which had plenty of chances to score. Also, the official did not call what many thought was a clear handball inside the U.S. box by midfielder Tobin Heath.
Japan possessed the ball for 58 percent of the game, according to NBC Sports’ box score.
There crowd of 80,203 at Wembley Stadium was the largest ever for a women's soccer match at the Olympics. The American presence was evident, as chants of “USA, USA” could be clearly heard on NBCSN’s telecast.
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