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DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) — The U.S. women’s soccer team shared the
Yankee Stadium scoreboard with Derek Jeter, made an appearance on
“Good Morning America” and can now count Tom Hanks, Lil Wayne and
Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers among their list of star-studded
admirers.
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Like Mia, Brandi and Foudy more than a decade before them, Hope,
Abby and the rest of the Americans have become quite the sensation
thanks to their performance at the World Cup, a rare turn in the
spotlight for U.S. soccer that could produce another watershed
moment in the game.
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Now the trick is to keep it going.
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The Americans play France in the semifinals Wednesday night. Win,
and they’ll face either Japan or Sweden in Sunday’s final with a
chance to become the first team to win three Women’s World Cup
titles.
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“It’s overwhelming. It’s amazing,” midfielder Carli Lloyd said
Monday morning, still savoring the United States’ epic victory over
Brazil in a penalty shootout Sunday night. “The support and buzz
back home is really awesome, and I think it’s helping women’s
soccer. This could be a huge turning point for the growth of soccer
back home, and that’s what we’re trying to do and trying to
accomplish.
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“Hopefully, as an added bonus, we come back with the
cup.”
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Unlike the American men, for whom making it out of the group stage
at the World Cup is a strong showing, the U.S. women have been
soccer’s dominant team for about as long as anyone can remember.
They’ve won three of the four Olympic gold medals to go with their
two World Cup titles. The 1999 squad was such a crossover hit that
fans were on a first-name basis with Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain –
or last-name basis in Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly’s case – and
soccer moms and dads alike turned out in droves with their kids,
packing stadiums from coast to coast for that year’s World
Cup.
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But U.S. fans can be a fickle bunch. They’ve become so accustomed
to the women’s success they yawn at anything less than a World Cup
title, and the Americans haven’t won soccer’s biggest prize since
that ’99 squad did it. Haven’t produced a team that comes close to
duplicating that group’s rock star appeal, either.
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Until, perhaps, now.
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“We’re participating in something that’s huge,” said Abby Wambach,
whose magnificent, leaping header in the 122nd minute Sunday
sparked one of the most riveting finishes ever in a World Cup game
– men’s or women’s. “Very few times does the spotlight shine so
bright on women’s soccer, and we want to prove to everybody around
the world that we have a product and that product is worth
watching.”
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The only thing Americans love more than a winner is one with
“U-S-A” emblazoned on its chest, and the fact the women are a
gritty, spunky bunch only heightens their appeal. Down a player for
almost an hour, on the verge of their earliest World Cup exit ever,
with Marta and the Brazilians pushing, shoving and whining for
every call they could get, the U.S. responded with a can-do
attitude that is uniquely – proudly – American.
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After Wambach tied the game, Hope Solo denied the Brazilians in
penalty kicks, her swat of Daiane’s attempt so resounding it could
be heard all the way back to the States.
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With that, Americans from Hollywood to Hoboken, N.J., were hooked.
FIFA said it was only the fourth time in World Cup history that a
team came back to win after falling behind in extra time, and a
first at the Women’s World Cup.
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“Go ahead, jump on the bandwagon and let’s do this together,” Solo
said Monday on Twitter. “One Nation, One World, One
Team.”
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ESPN’s broadcast drew a 2.6 overnight rating, the best for a
Women’s World Cup game since 1999 and second only to that dramatic
final at the Rose Bowl, when the Americans beat China on penalty
kicks. The game was replayed on ESPN2 a few hours later, an honor
reserved for “instant classics.”
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Hanks posted a picture of the team on Twitter, saying “I LOVE these
women!” Ellen DeGeneres gushed, “The Women’s World Cup game blew my
mind today.” Rodgers Tweeted his congratulations, adding, “Now
let’s get the cup ladies!!” Montages of Wambach’s goal, and fans’
reaction to it, popped up on YouTube.
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The win was front-page news in USA Today, The Washington Post, The
Miami Herald and The Wall Street Journal. “GMA” featured Wambach
and Solo, and Ali Krieger, who buried the final penalty kick to
seal the victory, chatted with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
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“It’s just amazing that it’s getting outside the soccer world,”
said Heather O’Reilly, who played 108 minutes three days after
missing the final group game with a strained groin. “Soccer people
have been following this World Cup and appreciate the game whether
it’s men’s or women’s. But now the general sports fan is really
picking up on how special this team is and how special that win
was. That’s great.”
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The timing couldn’t be better, either, with little else on the
sports calendar to steal the women’s thunder. Jeter picked up his
3,000th hit Saturday, and Tiger Woods is sitting out the British
Open with a bum leg. The NFL lockout continues to drag on, and the
only decision NBA players are making these days is whether to play
overseas until their labor issues get settled.
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“I’m hearing, ‘I’ve never watched a soccer game before but now I’m
watching them,'” said Shannon Boxx, who said her phone was “blowing
up” with congratulatory texts and emails. “We’re here to play and
to have fun ourselves and to do well, but we’re also here to
promote women’s soccer. You watch a game like that, and it’s hard
not to like soccer.”
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But as the U.S. men learned last year, this window to win people
over is fleeting.
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The Americans enjoyed unprecedented support during last summer’s
World Cup in South Africa, with fans filling bars at breakfast and
tuning in at home in record numbers. When Landon Donovan scored 45
seconds into stoppage time against Algeria to send the Americans
into the second round, the reaction was so spirited and jubilant it
turned an ordinary workday into a de facto national
holiday.
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When the Americans fizzled against Ghana, however, so did the hype.
People watched the rest of the tournament, but not with their
original fervor.
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“I woke up this morning, looked at my phone once again. Lots of
buzz, e-mails,” Lloyd said. “But as of now, we’ve got to put it
behind us. I’m now turning my focus to France. Because we have to.
We know that the time we can enjoy it is, hopefully, when we win
this thing and we can look back at the history we’ve just created
and the epic game and enjoy it. But it’s very important for us to
not get on too much of a high from this game because we have our
business to take care of on Wednesday.”
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