なでしこがフランスを順当に破って、
続く準決勝第二試合アメリカ対カナダ！
カナダが１点リードして前半終了時点で徹夜を断念。
なでしこが絡まない女子の試合って…つまらないねぇｗ
なでしこにもパスミスとかあるが、
これはナニコレってなもんですｗｗ
日本語の記事では、後半・延長の詳細がわからないので
ABC news, USA Todayを見てみたら…
後半は点の取り合いで、
カナダのシンクレアはアメリカ相手にハットトリック達成！
疑惑？の「GKボール持ちすぎ」「ハンド」判定が絡んで
アメリカが得点しますた。
カナダのキャプテン、シンクレアは「我々は負けていない」と主張してます。
延長は、両チームともシュートが大ハズレ、
珍しい？モーガンのヘディングが枠内にやっと入った、という感じ？
湯浅健二曰く、アメリカは何でもできるそうだから、
同じようなスタイルで逝ったら、
シンクレアの方が一枚上手だったということでしょうか。
どうなんでしょうねぇ…
アメリカは、5年連続五輪決勝逝ってるし…
日本対カナダよりも、日本対アメリカの方が客も入るだろうし…
観客：
日本対フランス＝61,482
アメリカ対カナダ＝26,630
***********************************
● ABC news Aug. 6, 2012
U.S. Women's Soccer Team Beats Canada in Olympic Extra-Time Thriller
…
The gold-medal match will be a chance for revenge for the Americans,
just one year after Japan beat them 3-1 in the 2011 World Cup final.
"This is what we've been working toward ever since we lost to Japan,"
said U.S. forward Abby Wambach after the semifinal win.
…
The game seemed bound for penalty kicks, a first for Olympics women's soccer,
when Morgan's header found just enough space between McLeod's glove and the crossbar.
"It was a crazy battle," Morgan said immediately after the match.
After 120 minutes of soccer, she said,
the Americans will now enter a period of "recovery"
as they prepare for their rematch against Japan.
● Alex Morgan's goal beats Canada, puts U.S. in Olympic final
By Robert Klemko, USA TODAY
…
Contrary to the Americans' recent history with Canada,
it wasn't easy.
Christine Sinclair turned in a Herculean effort:
three goals that put her team in the lead each time.
The U.S. women clawed back, matching every pot raise,
before Alex Morgan punched home the game-winner
with her forehead in the 123rd minute.
"We were unwilling to give up,
and that says a lot about who we are as a team, what our goals are,"
said Abby Wambach,
who scored on a penalty kick in the 80th minute to tie the score 3-3.
"Even when Canada scored their third goal,
there was something in me
that knew we had more, that we could give more."
Added Morgan: "It was a crazy battle.
Coming back and back and back. I'm still in shock."
…
Nicknamed "Baby Horse" for her world-class speed,
Morgan has been working on headers in practice
with coach Pia Sundhage's encouragement.
"It's not what you would expect,
but that's what this game was all about, the unexpected,"
Wambach said of Morgan's goal.
…
While Wambach leads the team with five goals in this tournament,
Morgan had struggled to find the back of the net
since notching two in the opener against France.
"I don't care who scores as long as we score,
and that's all that matters," said Morgan,
who walked away from the net with a relieved grin on her face
as teammates swarmed her.
"I didn't even see it go in."
Morgan, Wambach and the Americans next face a Japanese team
that won its semifinal with France 2-1 on Monday
and is unbeaten in this tournament with two draws.
Overwhelmed by one of the greatest games she'd ever seen,
Sundhage wasn't ready Monday to look ahead.
"I'm trying to live in the moment," she said.
"I haven't even thought about Japan yet."
The USA can expect an equally robust crowd in London
compared to the one at Old Trafford on Monday.
For the France-Japan semifinal, 61,482 were in attendance,
compared to 26,630 in Manchester for the U.S.-Canada game.
The Americans still face many questions heading into the final.
Chief among them:
How did one player score three goals
on the No. 1 ranked team in the world?
The consensus among American players was
that Sinclair had the game of her life.
"Christine Sinclair is unbelievable,"
U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe said.
"She's definitely one of the best players in the world,
one of the best players ever."
● Canadians: 'We feel like we got robbed' in loss to U.S. team
By Robert Klemko, USA TODAY
MANCHESTER, England –
The Canadian women's soccer team feels "robbed" and "cheated"
after what its coach described as two "bizarre" calls
in a 4-3 U.S. victory in the Olympic semifinals.
Canadian players were upset about a second-half sequence
in which Canada goalkeeper Erin McLeod corralled a loose ball,
and the referee determined
she held it for more than the allowed six seconds
as she searched for a place to throw it.
She was assessed a foul, and the U.S. was awarded
an indirect free kick inside the penalty area.
U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe took the free kick
and spiked it off Canadian Lauren Sesselmann's arm,
eliciting a handball call and a penalty kick,
which Abby Wambach converted to tie the game 3-3 before extra time.
McLeod said she did not receive a legitimate warning,
which is typical prior to six-second calls.
Such penalties are unusual,
especially late in elimination games of Olympic or World Cup tournaments.
"We feel like we got robbed in this game," McLeod said.
"The referee said I had the ball for ten seconds.
She obviously counted the time I was on the ground with the ball.
Once I got to my feet I calculate I only had the ball for five seconds."
Said Canadian team captain Christie Sinclair:
"We feel like we didn't lose.
We feel like it was taken from us.
It's a shame in a game like that, which is so important,
that the ref had such an impact on it.
We feel cheated."
Wambach said the referee had previously warned McLeod,
and that she had been holding the ball for far longer, earlier in the game.
"There was a few other times throughout the game
that she held it for 18 seconds, 10 seconds,"
Wambach said. "And the referee had warned her before to play quicker.
It's the referee's call.
I feel like you can't blame something on the referee.
"We feel good about the way that we won tonight."
Canadian coach John Herdman,
who before the game complained to the media
that the U.S. team was making illegal contact with opponents during its set plays,
called the decisions "bizarre."
"I've never seen a decision like that given," he said.
"An indirect free kick without a real warning or a yellow card,
just a bit random.
And then a handball when something just gets blasted at you.
Sometimes that's the way it is.
You make your own luck."
**************************************
