Carli Lloyd of the U.S. celebrates scoring her second goal past Japan in the women’s final soccer match at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London at Wembley Stadium, August 9, 2012. FABRIZIO BENSCH/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrlfive434403
The London 2012 Olympics gold medal soccer match between the US and Japan was a rematch the US team’s fans had been dreaming of: finally a chance at redemption after Japan beat the US in the World Cup soccer finals in South Africa. It’s been a little more than one year since the US lost to Japan, and the US had their reputation at stake in this rematch. The US women’s soccer team has a nice streak going of always winning either the World Cup or the Olympics. Since they lost the World Cup, an Olympics gold medal meant that much more today. A 2-1 win over Japan was a nice way to go out.
The US women took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Solo shutout the Japanese in the first half and the States’ Carli Lloyd scored a goal with an assist from Alex Morgan in the 9th minute.
In the second half, the US continued to control the lead with an early goal from Lloyd again – making the score 2-0 at the 56 minute mark. Japan came back and scored for the first time at 67 minutes after a pass was stolen near the goal and Japan’s Yuki Ogimi drilled it in from point-blank range.
In the final seven minutes of regulation, the US held on to their 2-1 lead over Japan, with an especially fantastic save from US goalkeeer Hope Solo where she had to really lay herself out for the save.
The gold medal win was the final game in an often heart-pounding run through the Olympics that saw the United States face off against Canada and New Zealand in the brackets after fighting through France, Korea, and Colombia in group play.
Check out the photos in this post from today’s match and throughout their run through the Olympics, then head back to Newscom to see the latest photos of the US women’s Olympics soccer team as they come in. Don’t forget to visit our 2012 Olympics mini site where you can get quick access to all the Olympics content you’ll need for whatever story you need to tell.
Carli Lloyd Celebrates scoring 2nd goal with team mates USA London 2012 Olympics USA V Japan (Womens Final) 09/08/12 at Wembley Stadium London 2012 Olympics Football. FOTOSPORTS INTERNATIONAL/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: fsphotos183022
Alex Morgan of the U.S. (13) challenges for the ball with Japan’s Saki Kumagai (4) in the women’s final soccer match at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London at Wembley Stadium, August 9, 2012. TORU HANAI/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrlfive434455
Carli Lloyd of the U.S. (10) celebrates scoring past Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto (R) in the women’s final soccer match at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London at Wembley Stadium, August 9, 2012. FABRIZIO BENSCH/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrglsoccerphotos222804
The U.S. team poses before the women’s final soccer match against Japan at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London at Wembley Stadium, August 9, 2012. TORU HANAI/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrglsoccerphotos222789
Aug. 6, 2012 – United Kingdom – Olympics – Canada v United States of America London 2012 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Semi Final. Jason Cairnduff/ZUMA Press/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: zumawireworldphotosfive609403
Canada’s goalkeeper Erin McLeod (L) can’t quite reach a goal by USA’s Alex Morgan (not seen) to win the women’s semi final soccer match at the London 2012 Olympic Games at Old Trafford in Manchester, August 6, 2012. DAVID MOIR/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrglsoccerphotos222493
USA’s Alex Morgan. Jason Cairnduff/ZUMA Press/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: zumawireworldphotosfive609409
Pia Sundhage (2nd R), coach of the U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team, attends a training session during the London 2012 Olympic Games at Eltham College in London August 8, 2012. U.S. will play against Japan in the women’s football final match at Wembley on Thursday. NIGEL RODDIS/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrglsoccerphotos222623
Canada’s Christine Sinclair (L) scores past USA goalkeeper Hope Solo (R) in the women’s semi final soccer match against at the London 2012 Olympic Games at Old Trafford in Manchester, August 6, 2012. DAVID MOIR/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrlfive423034
Members of the U.S. team line up before their women’s first round Group G preliminary soccer match against Colombia at the London 2012 Olympic Games in Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, July 28, 2012. DAVID MOIR/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrlfive386886
You may be interested in some of these other Olympics-themed blog posts from FocalPoint:
Olympics 2012: Usain Bolt strikes again. And again?
Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor Make History Again
The Best 15 Photos of the US Swim Team
Tags: 2012, goal, gold medal match, japan, london, Olympics, Soccer, united states, wembley stadium, women