LYON, France � The slogan for this Women's World Cup tournament was "Dare to Shine," as if women weren't supposed to excel on the soccer pitch and had to be brave to prove their worth as athletes.
The top-ranked U.S. women didn't have to be dared to be their best. They were gutsy by instinct, in addition to being the most talented team in the world, and they eased through the first round of the tournament before buckling down to win three consecutive one-goal games in knockout play to earn their third straight trip to the championship game. Their experience in tight games paid off Sunday, when they clawed out a 2-0 victory over the determined and physical Netherlands, which put up a valiant battle but couldn't end the Americans' reign.
Megan Rapinoe's successful penalty kick in the 62nd minute was the game's first goal and launched the Americans to their second consecutive World Cup title and fourth in eight Women's World Cup tournaments. The final was tense and bruising, a reflection of how close the rest of the world has come to catching up to the U.S. women _ but not close enough yet.
The Netherlands, which holds the European championship, became the first team to hold the Americans scoreless past the 12-minute mark of a game here by keeping them off the board until Rapinoe scored her sixth goal of the tournament, an opportunity gained after video review determined that Stefanie van der Gragt had fouled American forward Alex Morgan in the box.
Rapinoe's low, rolling shot caught goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal going the wrong way, and the large contingent of American fans at Stade de Lyon on a warm summer afternoon erupted in cheers. Rapinoe, she of the purple hair and sometimes polarizing political views, was named the player of the match. She also won the Golden Ball as the tournament's outstanding player and Golden Boot as the top scorer.
Clever midfielder Rose Lavelle, one of the U.S. team's most delightful discoveries during this tournament, added an insurance goal in the 70th minute with a hard left-footed shot. She sprinted to the sideline to share the moment with her teammates, joy and relief and wonder all over her face.
As the final moments of extra time ticked off, the American reserve players linked arms with their coaches on the sideline and swayed back and forth. When the whistle sounded, players leaped in the air and hugged and shrieked. Some might have cried for joy. The Dutch players, though desolated, congratulated them with handshakes and a word or two, a heartwarming show of class.
While waiting for the trophy presentation, the Americans gathered in a circle on the field, some draped in American flags. The U.S. fan section began chanting "equal pay" in reference to the team's ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for alleged discrimination in pay and working conditions.
A few years ago, this kind of ending seemed unlikely.
Stunned by their loss in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the U.S. women's program was adrift. Teams from the rest of the world were getting better thanks to infusions of money and support from their national federations, but the Americans were standing still. That defeat proved the team's need for new energy and new personnel, but players were initially unhappy with coach Jill Ellis' efforts to refresh and reinvent the roster. A number went to U.S Soccer officials in 2017 to express their concerns with the team's direction and add that if those concerns weren't addressed, they wanted a new coach.
Ellis survived that insurrection, though she went through an array of formations and strategies and moved players out of their familiar positions until she found the combinations she wanted. She envisioned them as an attacking team that would be capable of playing staunch team defense, and that's what came to pass.
Players who had doubted her plans began to understand what she was doing and appreciate the challenges being posed by the young players she had brought in. Eleven of the 23 U.S. players on the U.S. roster here were making their first World Cup appearance, including the creative Lavelle _ whose goal brought the team's total to a tournament-record 26. Veteran players who might have resented the youngsters instead mentored and encouraged them, creating an unbreakable bond between different generations and different personalities.
They dared to shine, all right. And shine they did.
