I watched most of the final Women’s World Cup game with my Mom and Dad on Sunday when the United States lost to Japan in penalty kicks, after a long, dramatic over time. Over time and penalty kicks that resulted from the U.S. losing its lead twice during regular play. The opportunity was there, but the U.S. could not hold on to it. And it certainly was a hard loss, if not for any other reason than the U.S. was ahead – twice – and couldn’t hold on either time. All that being said, it was a loss I could still feel good about.

The game was relatively clean, with only one red card coming at the very end of over time play. And while we did not win the World Cup, we did place second, which is still quite an accomplishment. We lost to an underdog, and you all know how I feel about an underdog. Japan had never played in the World Cup finals before, an, in the last 25 meetings had lost to the U.S. every single time. We lost to a team whose hearts carried them as much as their legs, feet and lungs. A team who few in the soccer community ever gave a snowflake’s chance in hades to win the World Cup. Japan, as a country, now has something to hold on to after the tsunami and nuclear power plant disasters. And, as a compassionate person, I’m okay with that.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not happy about losing. I am also highly competitive. But I learned some time around the age of 16 or 17 that if I couldn’t find positives in negatives I wasn’t going to be a very happy person. This is the kind of character you build when you don’t play on highly successful teams, and it’s the kind of character that makes you a better competitor and person. There’s some old saying about having to know how to lose in order to know how to win, and while it’s simple it is the truth. And it applies equally to life off the field as well.

But besides the heartwarming aspects of Japan pulling through, there are a few more reasons I am alright with Japan’s taking home the cup…

Never, ever fall asleep on the job.
The U.S. had the lead twice during the game and both times, Japan was able to find a way to battle back and tie it up, eventually forcing the game to go into penalty kicks. Because the U.S. had won a game earlier in the tournament on penalty kicks, Japan wisely had scouted the U.S. shooters and knew what they had done before. Japan fought and scrapped their way into penalty kicks and had momentum going in. When a team is down, they either quit or fight harder than ever, and you don’t get to a World Cup championship game without all the fight you can muster. If you leave an opportunity for someone to take what you’ve got, they will find a way to take it.

Missed opportunities are everyone’s Achilles heel.
The U.S. had something like nine shots on goal in the first half of the first half, none of which resulted in a goal. They were wide, they were off the goalie’s gloves, they just weren’t the right shots to make it in to the goal. It’s not for lack of trying, but lack of converting that eventually helped the U.S. get into a position where they ended up in penalty kicks. I have no doubt they will replay those shots over and over in their minds (and on tape) in order to make improvements. You have to learn from your loss, or else you will never move forward.

It hurts less to lose to an underdog.
Like I said before, I don’t like to lose but some losses are much worse than others. Losing to a team that played dirty or wins and brags about it leaves me implacable. However, when you lose to a team who beat you after making a miracle run and proving themselves to a community who didn’t think much of them before the Cup started, while it may be slightly embarrassing, it’s also humbling. And being humbled is something everyone can learn from. If the loss comes from lack of effort, that’s is frustrating. But if it was a good, clean and fair game, as this one appeared to be, it’s hard to discredit an underdog who had their day (or tournament).

All that being said, I’m still disappointed the U.S. didn’t win. I feel bad for the players who missed goals, and the ones who had miscommunications that will replay in their heads, probably for the rest of their lives. But I also am happy for all of the attention that was given to this year’s Women’s World Cup in the U.S. All of this attention is helping to make little girls excited about playing soccer- an outstanding sport that can be played everywhere, in all kinds of communities, as long as there is space and a ball. And anything that promotes a healthy activity that builds self-esteem, is a win in my book.

Image found here

Annie writes about all kinds of sports related topics and then actually goes out and plays said sports- almost every evening. You can contact Annie by emailing her at annie [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and we are still trying to talk her into getting a Twitter account – no success yet.