Japan wins 3-1 over U.S. Team after a tough match ending the Women’s World Cup.

Women’s sports–especially soccer or football as it’s call everywhere else, has had a constant up-hill battle when it comes to earning respect and die-hard fans. Men’s soccer has some of the most dynamic and vocal fans, however, the women’s team is quickly catching up.

In recent years soccer has caught and held the heart of little girls across America. They cheer and jump to their feet from the excitement when a favorite player, like Christie Rampone, 36 glides down the field leading the ball past the opposing team.
Rampone, who is also the only mother on the entire US team, also has the most caps of any active player in the league.

According to FIFA.com there are 29 million women and girls playing soccer worldwide. The World Cup and Olympic Games give young women the spark of encouragement and determination they need to succeed in the high endurance sport.
Little girls have plenty of strong hard working role models to look up to from this team including Ali Krieger, 26 a two-time Penn State All-American and Heather O’Rielly, 26 who was first capped at the young age of 17.

Homare Sawa, an 18 year veteran on the Japanese team collected the Golden boot after scoring 5 total goals during the entire tournament said to FIFA.com:

“The most important thing for me is to go for our goal of being champions. It is something that only comes as a result of working hard for the team’s win.”

The wave of pain could be felt after every missed opportunity and crash by a player, nonetheless, most fans weren’t entirely distraught over losing to Japan. After everything the country has been through over the past year including the earthquake, tsunami most fans felt Japan deserved a little piece of happiness, even if it’s from a sporting event.