standing on top of the world
I went to the 2015 Women's World Cup final.
It was an experience unlike any other I will ever have in my life.
Disclaimer: Aside from the ones I'm in, obviously, I have borrowed these pics and gifs from across the internet. There are far too many here for me to track down sources to credit. I apologize. Thank you, wonderful people of the internet, for sharing them with us.
Okay, full disclosure, I've never really liked soccer much (until now). I played it as a kid one year, was pretty terrible at it (probably), and never gave it another thought again. I really really don't like to run, which does not a good soccer player make. Baseball was much more my speed and became my passion. In college when I started watching Sports Night, I chuckled along with Dan's mocking of soccer and the fact that so many games are 1-0 or even 0-0. ("[team] won 2-0 in an offensive shootout!") Looking back now, baseball isn't much better, I concede that point. I grew to really like watching football, where there was both a lot of action and a lot of points on the board. But I never gave another thought to soccer and didn't get why the rest of the world was obsessed with it.
Last year when the men's World Cup happened, my Twitter feed was full of cheering about it, and eventually I thought sure, what the hell and tuned in to the livestream of a game. It wasn't boring! I watched one or two more, I think, even just in part, before the WC ended. I remember being pretty bummed it was done so I couldn't watch more of it. I had forgotten that when you are watching professionals at the highest level play, it almost doesn't matter what the game is, it's going to be entertaining. I also continue to underestimate my underlying, comes-out-every-now-and-then patriotism. Both these factors are why I always enjoy watching the Olympics when I can catch it.
Speaking of the Olympics -- this whole women's soccer thing really shouldn't come as a surprise to me because I'm seeing a lot of parallels between my experience here and my history with women's gymnastics. In 1996, I was 15 and in Atlanta, so the Summer Olympics were a HUGE DEAL. I followed the women's gymnastics team pretty closely (from a distance, I didn't attend anything, sadly) and learned their names and strengths quickly. You kind of get to know them as people as you watch them practice and perform and interview. You start to feel a connection. I felt very, very connected to that team. We were all about the same age, and I'd done gymnastics as a kid, too. I was quite emotionally invested in their success. I got to revisit that a bit in 2012 when the US gymnastics team kicked ass again and I followed it as much as I could. Turns out I have many feelings about awesome ladies from my country doing awesome things together. I think it also certainly plays on my TEAM feelings that connect to shows I love like Firefly and Buffy.
So yeah, that's my back story on that. Let's fast forward to this year.
I knew the women's World Cup was coming because many of my friends were super excited, even planning on attending events. I knew I'd watch a few matches, sure, and cheer them on quietly, but I figured that'd be it. I didn't expect to become invested. I didn't expect to really connect to it. I didn't expect to have A WHOLE LOT OF FEELINGS, and I certainly didn't expect this to become basically my next fandom.
Show's what I know.
My friend Alicia came to visit the second week of June, just as the WWC was starting. I remember the US/Australia game (the US's first match) was on in the background while I was in the next room, and she and my roommate Lara were cheering for various things. In hindsight, I wish I'd actually sat and watched that game with them. But I did join for the next few, quite happily, and their excitement really helped me get excited. They taught me more about the individual players and gave me background info on past events and what led the team there, though there's more I want to explore still. I was certainly interested and started learning names and faces fast. Suddenly, I was really looking forward to their next match and screaming on the couch as either side got near the goal. Suddenly, we're buying Alex Morgan posters for our apartment and watching hours of YouTube videos of the team being adorable doofy nerds. Suddenly, Lara's buying us tickets to the Seattle Reign vs Portland Thorns game so we can see Solo and Rapinoe and Alex and Tobin in person at the end of July (AHHHHH). Suddenly, I'm feeling an emotional connection to these people, more than for any show I'm watching now. And not just one or two key players, but a dozen. More than a dozen! The whole damn team was making me emotional. And most of them were around my age (like my first go with the Olympics) and several were openly gay! And ALL were HELLA ATTRACTIVE, so, you know, there's also that. But also HELLA TALENTED and PASSIONATE, and that's what stole my heart.
Suddenly, I realized, I was in this. Sure enough, I had a new fandom.
Since when did I have SOCCER FEELINGS?! I was as surprised as anyone. I've been waiting for years to feel invested in something new (after Faberry), and I had no fucking clue it would be SOCCER of all things. But then, this team is pretty fucking amazing, so it's not exactly hard to love them. And I really wanted them to find redemption after losing the final in 2011. I truly felt this was Their Time, and I've had this innate sense of peace about the fact that the US would win the cup this year. (Though you might call it entitlement or egotism, heh.) But yeah, as if I could see the future, I just always believed. I knew.
(GAHHHH, LOOKING AT THAT LAST GIF GIVES ME SO MANY EMOTIONS.)
Our friend Kelsey went to the semi-final in Montreal versus Germany, and we were very excited for her but also jealous! What a fun time she must've had. I love things like that, events that feel larger than life. Being in a place where you can just feel like you are a part of something big, something special. It's an amazing feeling. So as soon as the US clinched the win and the TV announcer mentioned that the final would be played in Vancouver, just a 2-hour drive from Seattle, I turned to my roommate and said, "...should we go?!" We should, right?!
(Becky says yes, so we went for it.)
Lara immediately went online to StubHub, and we picked out seats in the 2nd row of the upper level, just a little in front of one of the goals (not quite halfway between goal and midfield). The markup was crazy, but we knew we were gonna do it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The WWC hops all over the world, and it would never be this close to us again. And who's to say I'd have these feelings for the team (which would surely be a little different) years from now, even if I did get the chance again? There's just no way. It was now or never. When I fell in love with Glee and joined fandom in 2011, it was near the end of their big final tour, and I never got to see it. I missed that boat. I've always regretted my timing. This time, though, I had the chance to seize the moment and be there, to see these people I love in person and watch them do their thing. I wasn't going to let that pass me by. Not again.
So yeah, due to our lateness in purchasing tickets, we paid a hefty price ($450 each for tickets originally sold for $184), but of course it was all worth it, far more so once we saw the outcome of the game itself!
A part of me felt a little bad. So many of my friends would've given their left arms to go to this game, and here I was, brand new to the whole thing, and I was going to the big mama game. In fact, my very first live soccer game EVER. And it was THIS! I didn't feel worthy. Really, I just wanted to bring all of them with me; I wish I could've. But I was pretty psyched that I got to go. I wanted to be sure I fully appreciated the experience and opportunity I had, because I know it's a big deal. I think I did.
I looked forward to the game all week. Thank goodness we only had to wait five days! We woke up early that morning and drove to Vancouver to try to beat the border traffic. We discussed predictions, hopes, and the starting lineup for the game. (I said we'd beat Japan 2-1, which was pretty optimistic, since 3 goals felt like asking a bit much.) When we were in line to cross into Canada, every other car around us was loaded with people wearing red, white, and blue face paint and crazy gear. We were pretty tame in comparison! Lara had a brand new Alex Morgan shirt, and I found a blue jersey-style shirt in my drawer that I never wear, but it had a 15 on it -- Rapinoe! (And today was her 30th birthday, how cool is that?)
When we arrived in Vancouver, we found the stadium very easily (it kind of looks like a pirate ship!) and didn't have trouble finding affordable parking a few blocks away, either. It was about 10:30 and the stadium didn't open until 1, so we walked around and ate and killed time. The merch line was hella long (like, 50 people at least), but we didn't see anything we really wanted to buy anyway. It was really easy to forget we were actually in a different country, considering how many American supporters were around. The vast majority of the crowd was cheering for USA, but we did see many Japanese fans, too. I did find it amusing that I wasn't quite sure what color(s) I was supposed to wear. USA is obviously red, white, and blue, but Japan has a red and white flag and wears blue uniforms. So....??? Heh. We both wore blue, as did most of the crowd. Sports are fandoms, and going to live games is kind of like going to a con, with everyone dressed up and enjoying the camaraderie. It was a fun spectacle. Really, everyone's just so excited to be there. Great energy in the air. And of course I loved that it was a women's event. No sexist, misogynistic asshats to be seen.
We went to the FIFA Fan Zone for a quick lunch and watched some WWC footage on the big jumbotron screen set up there. It really got you in the mood for what was hopefully going to be a fantastic game. We headed to wait in line at the stadium, as the doors were opening at 1 (three hours before the game) and there was nothing else we wanted to do outside.
We met a lovely old lesbian couple from California standing behind us in line and chatted until the gates opened. Because we were near the front, we were certainly in the first 100 fans that entered the stadium (out of a grand total 53,341 who attended the game.) When we went in, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, because we kind of did! And just like I experienced as a kid when you first step out and see that big stadium with the baseball field, it was magical
The soccer field looked much smaller than I expected, and because of that, our seats were better than I thought they'd be. When you spend that kind of money, you think that nothing will feel "worth the price," but this was great. We had a fantastic view, and we were right next to one of the camera operators, so it was a great angle. You can see the crazy difference between sun and shade, as the roof was a dome but partially transparent. The sun moved across the field as the afternoon progressed, and I really do think it ended up making a difference during the game.
2015 World Cup Final - before from jarrow on Vimeo.
We had three hours until game time, but I didn't know when they'd come out to warm up, so I wanted to be sure we didn't miss it. (Turns out, an hour before the game.) Thank goodness I brought magazines! Finally, a few players started trickling out onto the field. The keepers came out first (Hope Solo! Ashlyn Harris!) and did some jogging to warm up together. They left, then maybe ten minutes later both teams came out in full to run drills.
THEY WERE RIGHT THERE! EEEEEE!!! I bought nice binoculars on Amazon before the game specifically for this purpose, and Lara really enjoyed watching her favorites warm up. I find, with this team, there are so damn many people that I have developed affection for, I would be looking from one player to the next going, "AHH! It's [name]! I love you!" *moves to next person* "AHHH!!! It's [name]! I love you!" and repeat ad nauseum. You can't just settle on watching on person because they're ALL wonderful. Emotional whack-a-mole.
So, with a few minutes to go, they all went back inside to change and get ready. The minutes counted down on the jumbotron, the seats filled, and then it was finally (finally) game time! The trophy was marched out, the players came out, and we sang the national anthem together. So yeah, those of you who watched the game live, I was there singing right along with them! (AHHH SO COOL.) We cheered as the starting line-ups were announced, and we were excited to see that it was exactly what we'd predicted (the same as for the Germany semi-final, basically).
back row: Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo, Lauren Holiday, Megan Rapinoe
front row: Meghan Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, Carli Lloyd, Julie Johnston, Tobin Heath
The captains (Lloyd) did the coin toss (which it seems we won), the players took the field, and it was time to begin! I was really excited to see that Hope Solo was starting on the goal at our end, because that means the US would be scoring on our end in the second half, and that seemed to be when most of their goals came, from what I'd seen. (Ahahaha, welp, THAT didn't hold up here.)
The opening whistle blew, and they were off! And, wow. We had NO IDEA what we were in for.
I should take a moment to explain what I'd felt was my curse this whole tournament. I know I joked earlier about the low scores you see in soccer, but somehow, scores had seemed to be consistently low whenever I was watching a game. No, but seriously. Up until the quarterfinal aired, I had yet to witness a single goal being scored by any team. NOT ONE. IN SIX GAMES. Three of the early games I watched were all draws (0-0), and in the other three, they either scored the only goal when I ran to the bathroom or I had to miss half the game due to another commitment, and that was when they scored. I WAS SO MAD, you guys. I watched something like 6 hours of soccer in the WWC and didn't see A SINGLE GOAL. Just a whole lot of fucking attempts. At one point I remember being like, why am I doing this? Is it really THAT difficult?! WHEN WILL THE TENSION BE RELEASED?!
Of course that streak was finally broken in the quarterfinal, when they can't just draw anymore. I remember screaming "I SAW A GOAL! THEY SCORED A GOAL!" on the couch like a crazy person. Dear lord.
So, my point is, I felt cursed. I told Lara that the final would probably be a low-scoring game since, you know, *I* was there. (I am very powerful.) I apologized in advance.
I assume that most everyone reading this knows just how the game turned out -- with the most goals ever in a WWC final -- and is laughing along with me. CURSE LIFTED. Just when we needed it most!
So! SPEAKING OF GOALS. The game started, and we'd barely stopped cheering the opening kickoff when CARLI FUCKING LLOYD comes flying out of nowhere in our first corner kick, TWO MINUTES INTO THE GODDAMN GAME, and scores!!
LOOK AT THIS FACE I LOVE THIS FACE
WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. We were screaming our heads off! Goals aren't often scored in the first 20 minutes or so! Much less right away! The stadium went CRAZY. I was cheering like a madman, because I know how rare soccer goals are, and god only knew if were going to get to see another one. (Retrospect, I know, ahahaha, but we had no idea!) It could've played out for 88 more minutes and finished 1-0. So, we wanted to cheer as much as possible in that moment, and we did. I actually blew my voice out! (A few days later, it's starting to recover.)
Two minutes in, and the US had a safety net. Now Japan had to score not once but twice against the best goalkeeper in the world. Hope Fucking Solo. Who -- let's remember -- had not allowed a single goal in over 500 minutes of play -- not since their opening game against Australia. And now they had to do it twice. HA, good luck.
But then, no sooner was I processing that information, but CARLI FUCKING LLOYD DID IT AGAIN. LIKE THREE MINUTES LATER.
Look at how it goes right through their legs! Insane!!
The whole stadium erupted like a MADHOUSE. TWO goals in FIVE MINUTES?! We were already up 2-0?! How was that even possible! And, seriously, after the first goal, why did the Japanese players not have like four people guarding her?! But man, look at this amazing group of players. Running like a flock of birds, moving together like a well-oiled machine.
It took several minutes for the adrenaline rush to begin wearing off, but the smiles didn't fade, oh no. We were ECSTATIC. I'd predicted two US goals, but surely not in the first five minutes!! We'd taken two shots on goal and they both delivered. THAT was certainly different from the pattern I'd watched on TV for the past month. Japan finally got their first attempt and Solo blocked it (naturally), then it was our ball again. There was some back and forth, as soccer goes, but then, wouldn't you know, just five or so minutes after the second goal, THIS happens:
Lauren Holiday comes zooming up from midfield, catches the bouncing ball at just the right moment, and bangs in another one!
Watching the team's reactions, it was clear that we knew flat out, we're winning this game. With our defense being what it is, there was just no way that Japan was going to overcome a three-nothing deficit. Not happening. It was only 13 minutes into the game, and we were celebrating our victory. We had it in the bag. The Japan team was in a huddle on the field regrouping and probably trying to figure out how the hell they were going to stop this juggernaut of an offense we have. And by this point I learned that I have an official "goal reaction" now, seeing as how I'd just done the same thing three times in a row -- scream "YYYYYEEEEEEAHHHHHHH!" and jump up and down about thirty times waving my tiny little American flag back and forth. Hehe.
Play resumed while all of us are still screaming and hugging and cheering because, holy shit, HOW IS THIS REAL LIFE, but before we could even catch our breath, we saw the most amazing moment of the entire day.
THIS WAS LITERALLY 1 MINUTE AND 15 SECONDS LATER, YOU GUYS. (I CHECKED.)
CARLI FUCKING LLOYD, YOU GUYS.
CARLI. FUCKING. LLOYD.
She saw her chance at FUCKING MIDFIELD with the goalie out far, and she took it, and she got the most amazing goal I've ever seen. (Yes, in my limited experience, but still.) We went ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT WILD in the stadium, y'all. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard. Watching the video now back gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes. It was pure magic. There's just no other way to describe it.
And let's take a moment to recognize some of the records at play here, shall we? Because not only did Lloyd score a hat trick, which is pretty amazing it itself (I think they said something like only 20 of them in World Cup history?) ---
- The only hat trick in a women's World Cup final, ever.
- The fastest hat trick (16 minutes) in World Cup history (men's or women's).
- The first player ever to score a WC final goal from the halfway line.
So, yeah, it was PRETTY FUCKING AMAZING TO WITNESS FIRST-HAND, MY FRIENDS, LET ME TELL YOU.
My memory's a bit hazy, because were were practically in a transcendental state of euphoria, but I think at that point Carli Lloyd took a victory lap like this:
So, yeah. Sixteen minutes into the game, and we're up FOUR-ZERO. I never would've believed it. I STILL don't believe it, and I SAW IT. Lara and I had quite a conversation about how we will never, ever see another game like this one in our entire lives. It's already big enough that it's a World Cup final, but now THIS?! We screamed until we were hoarse and soaked up every moment, because it would never be repeated. I sure picked a hell of a game to be my first soccer match, RIGHT?! Jesus christ. This was beyond my wildest dreams.
Things did calm down after that, heh. Japan finally got a goal 27 minutes in, and I was glad that the fans there were able to celebrate something. There was a louder cheer than I'd expected, honestly! Good for them. I did feel bad for Hope Solo, though, who finally had her streak broken :-( She'd come so close! It was 4-1 going into halftime. My prediction was that we'd score one more and finish at 5-1. I wasn't far off!
Soon into the second half, at the 51-minute mark, Japan got a free kick, and Julie Johnston tried to head it away, but it bounced into the corner of the goal, just beyond Solo's reach. It's of course super awful when you score an Own Goal, but at least we were so far ahead that it didn't matter. Poor JJ though :-( What I did appreciate was that the announcer in the stadium, who'd been calling the names of each player who scored, simply said "a goal credited to Japan" without saying who'd put it in. That was respectful.
BUT THEN! TWO MINUTES LATER!
This is possibly my favorite gif of the day.
Tobin Heath! FIFTH GOAL!! Lara was particularly excited because that's her favorite player. We all felt much better knowing that JJ's OG had just been canceled out. The US just absolutely refused to give up this game. It was GLORIOUS.
The final 35 minutes of the game were fairly calm, and we just watched as USA held them to those two goals and no more. Lara and I tried to embrace every minute because those ninety do go by so fast. Earlier in the game, I'd been frustrated that I didn't have phone service (international, remember); I wanted to share the experience with my friends on Twitter, but eventually I realized it was better without distractions. I wanted to live in the moment completely. We were THRILLED to see Kelley O'Hara come in as a sub, then Abby Wambach, playing in her last WC game ever. In fact, when Wambach came in, Carli Lloyd ran over and gave her the captain's armband. I thought that was really amazing of her to do. She is a true class act.
And how cool that they put Rampone in for the final three minutes? Really neat to give them a great send-off memory like that. At the final whistle, it was a tad anticlimactic because we knew we were going to win the whole time, but it was quite nice having it cemented nonetheless. In fact, hilariously, the digital message that said "Congratulations, USA, World Cup Champions!" displayed all around the stadium went up BEFORE the game was over! It displayed for a moment at the 90-minute mark, before the three minutes of stoppage time. Ha! Oops. Someone must've noticed, because it was only there for a quick second. But three minutes later, time was up and there was even more cheering, of course, because we were champions.
The team spilled out onto the field and hugged and ran back and forth a bit to take it all in with the cheering crowd.
2015 World Cup Final - after from jarrow on Vimeo.
And, yeah, it's exciting that my country won a top international tournament. And it was incredibly exciting to be there to see it. But, personally, this was all about these players. With the emotional investment I have now, seeing these women celebrate with each other was everything to me. EVERYTHING. I'd only been following them for a month, but they'd been through so much together, both highs and lows, over years. And now they'd achieved their dream. Together.
LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ARE.
Did you catch that part? Where we are the first women's team to win 3 World Cup titles? Yessssssssss.
We had to really high-tail it out of there after the game to be sure we beat the traffic back to the border (I had a 1am flight out for FaberryCon!) But of course we wanted to see the trophy presentation and celebrate more with the crowd. To FIFA's credit, they wasted no time. As soon as the final whistle blew, they were wheeling out the podium. The team kept soaking in the fans' cheering while the podium was being set up, and we could see on the jumbotron that many players were pretty emotional. There was a particularly touching moment when they ran over to their spouses in the crowd. ♥
Abby Wambach and her wife
Each player was given an American flag to hold. Many ran laps with it, others just wrapped it around them and looked out at the crowd. It was so beautiful. You could tell they'd waited their whole lives for this moment. All the sweat and pain and tears, the tens of thousands of hours of work was worth it.
Then, the teams made their way over for the awards presentation. Unfortunately, the podium faced the opposite side of the stands, so we relied on the jumbotron to show us what was going on. As soon as the FIFA officials were announced, the entire stadium BOOED! Holy crap! The camera was on the US team at the time, and Hope Solo and others made faces like "...awkward..." It was kind of hilarious and really in contrast to all the cheering for the players. But the crowd calmed down, and the individual awards were first, like the Golden Ball and Silver Boot to Carli Lloyd, then the Golden Glove to Hope Solo.
Then, Japan got their silver medals. They were clearly crushed by the results. It's one thing to lose, but another to lose in what must have felt like a pretty embarrassing way. I saw many pictures online of the US team in 2011 looking just as despondent as Japan did today. The roles had been reversed. And now the trophy -- and the gold medals -- were ours.
I. LOVE. THESE. PEOPLE.
Not to end on a sour note, but FIFA really needs to get its shit together, because this is absolute bullshit:
I could go on a huge rant about how angry this makes me, but I'm going to hold that in for now. I want to stay in my happy place, and THIS TEAM is my happy place. I may have watched the first 15 minutes of that game several times since, simply because it brings me so much joy.
Congratulations, ladies. Champions of the world.
I have been converted to the world of soccer. And I'm loving it.
It was an experience unlike any other I will ever have in my life.
Disclaimer: Aside from the ones I'm in, obviously, I have borrowed these pics and gifs from across the internet. There are far too many here for me to track down sources to credit. I apologize. Thank you, wonderful people of the internet, for sharing them with us.
Okay, full disclosure, I've never really liked soccer much (until now). I played it as a kid one year, was pretty terrible at it (probably), and never gave it another thought again. I really really don't like to run, which does not a good soccer player make. Baseball was much more my speed and became my passion. In college when I started watching Sports Night, I chuckled along with Dan's mocking of soccer and the fact that so many games are 1-0 or even 0-0. ("[team] won 2-0 in an offensive shootout!") Looking back now, baseball isn't much better, I concede that point. I grew to really like watching football, where there was both a lot of action and a lot of points on the board. But I never gave another thought to soccer and didn't get why the rest of the world was obsessed with it.
Last year when the men's World Cup happened, my Twitter feed was full of cheering about it, and eventually I thought sure, what the hell and tuned in to the livestream of a game. It wasn't boring! I watched one or two more, I think, even just in part, before the WC ended. I remember being pretty bummed it was done so I couldn't watch more of it. I had forgotten that when you are watching professionals at the highest level play, it almost doesn't matter what the game is, it's going to be entertaining. I also continue to underestimate my underlying, comes-out-every-now-and-then patriotism. Both these factors are why I always enjoy watching the Olympics when I can catch it.
Speaking of the Olympics -- this whole women's soccer thing really shouldn't come as a surprise to me because I'm seeing a lot of parallels between my experience here and my history with women's gymnastics. In 1996, I was 15 and in Atlanta, so the Summer Olympics were a HUGE DEAL. I followed the women's gymnastics team pretty closely (from a distance, I didn't attend anything, sadly) and learned their names and strengths quickly. You kind of get to know them as people as you watch them practice and perform and interview. You start to feel a connection. I felt very, very connected to that team. We were all about the same age, and I'd done gymnastics as a kid, too. I was quite emotionally invested in their success. I got to revisit that a bit in 2012 when the US gymnastics team kicked ass again and I followed it as much as I could. Turns out I have many feelings about awesome ladies from my country doing awesome things together. I think it also certainly plays on my TEAM feelings that connect to shows I love like Firefly and Buffy.
So yeah, that's my back story on that. Let's fast forward to this year.
I knew the women's World Cup was coming because many of my friends were super excited, even planning on attending events. I knew I'd watch a few matches, sure, and cheer them on quietly, but I figured that'd be it. I didn't expect to become invested. I didn't expect to really connect to it. I didn't expect to have A WHOLE LOT OF FEELINGS, and I certainly didn't expect this to become basically my next fandom.
Show's what I know.
My friend Alicia came to visit the second week of June, just as the WWC was starting. I remember the US/Australia game (the US's first match) was on in the background while I was in the next room, and she and my roommate Lara were cheering for various things. In hindsight, I wish I'd actually sat and watched that game with them. But I did join for the next few, quite happily, and their excitement really helped me get excited. They taught me more about the individual players and gave me background info on past events and what led the team there, though there's more I want to explore still. I was certainly interested and started learning names and faces fast. Suddenly, I was really looking forward to their next match and screaming on the couch as either side got near the goal. Suddenly, we're buying Alex Morgan posters for our apartment and watching hours of YouTube videos of the team being adorable doofy nerds. Suddenly, Lara's buying us tickets to the Seattle Reign vs Portland Thorns game so we can see Solo and Rapinoe and Alex and Tobin in person at the end of July (AHHHHH). Suddenly, I'm feeling an emotional connection to these people, more than for any show I'm watching now. And not just one or two key players, but a dozen. More than a dozen! The whole damn team was making me emotional. And most of them were around my age (like my first go with the Olympics) and several were openly gay! And ALL were HELLA ATTRACTIVE, so, you know, there's also that. But also HELLA TALENTED and PASSIONATE, and that's what stole my heart.
Suddenly, I realized, I was in this. Sure enough, I had a new fandom.
Since when did I have SOCCER FEELINGS?! I was as surprised as anyone. I've been waiting for years to feel invested in something new (after Faberry), and I had no fucking clue it would be SOCCER of all things. But then, this team is pretty fucking amazing, so it's not exactly hard to love them. And I really wanted them to find redemption after losing the final in 2011. I truly felt this was Their Time, and I've had this innate sense of peace about the fact that the US would win the cup this year. (Though you might call it entitlement or egotism, heh.) But yeah, as if I could see the future, I just always believed. I knew.
(GAHHHH, LOOKING AT THAT LAST GIF GIVES ME SO MANY EMOTIONS.)
Our friend Kelsey went to the semi-final in Montreal versus Germany, and we were very excited for her but also jealous! What a fun time she must've had. I love things like that, events that feel larger than life. Being in a place where you can just feel like you are a part of something big, something special. It's an amazing feeling. So as soon as the US clinched the win and the TV announcer mentioned that the final would be played in Vancouver, just a 2-hour drive from Seattle, I turned to my roommate and said, "...should we go?!" We should, right?!
(Becky says yes, so we went for it.)
Lara immediately went online to StubHub, and we picked out seats in the 2nd row of the upper level, just a little in front of one of the goals (not quite halfway between goal and midfield). The markup was crazy, but we knew we were gonna do it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The WWC hops all over the world, and it would never be this close to us again. And who's to say I'd have these feelings for the team (which would surely be a little different) years from now, even if I did get the chance again? There's just no way. It was now or never. When I fell in love with Glee and joined fandom in 2011, it was near the end of their big final tour, and I never got to see it. I missed that boat. I've always regretted my timing. This time, though, I had the chance to seize the moment and be there, to see these people I love in person and watch them do their thing. I wasn't going to let that pass me by. Not again.
So yeah, due to our lateness in purchasing tickets, we paid a hefty price ($450 each for tickets originally sold for $184), but of course it was all worth it, far more so once we saw the outcome of the game itself!
A part of me felt a little bad. So many of my friends would've given their left arms to go to this game, and here I was, brand new to the whole thing, and I was going to the big mama game. In fact, my very first live soccer game EVER. And it was THIS! I didn't feel worthy. Really, I just wanted to bring all of them with me; I wish I could've. But I was pretty psyched that I got to go. I wanted to be sure I fully appreciated the experience and opportunity I had, because I know it's a big deal. I think I did.
I looked forward to the game all week. Thank goodness we only had to wait five days! We woke up early that morning and drove to Vancouver to try to beat the border traffic. We discussed predictions, hopes, and the starting lineup for the game. (I said we'd beat Japan 2-1, which was pretty optimistic, since 3 goals felt like asking a bit much.) When we were in line to cross into Canada, every other car around us was loaded with people wearing red, white, and blue face paint and crazy gear. We were pretty tame in comparison! Lara had a brand new Alex Morgan shirt, and I found a blue jersey-style shirt in my drawer that I never wear, but it had a 15 on it -- Rapinoe! (And today was her 30th birthday, how cool is that?)
When we arrived in Vancouver, we found the stadium very easily (it kind of looks like a pirate ship!) and didn't have trouble finding affordable parking a few blocks away, either. It was about 10:30 and the stadium didn't open until 1, so we walked around and ate and killed time. The merch line was hella long (like, 50 people at least), but we didn't see anything we really wanted to buy anyway. It was really easy to forget we were actually in a different country, considering how many American supporters were around. The vast majority of the crowd was cheering for USA, but we did see many Japanese fans, too. I did find it amusing that I wasn't quite sure what color(s) I was supposed to wear. USA is obviously red, white, and blue, but Japan has a red and white flag and wears blue uniforms. So....??? Heh. We both wore blue, as did most of the crowd. Sports are fandoms, and going to live games is kind of like going to a con, with everyone dressed up and enjoying the camaraderie. It was a fun spectacle. Really, everyone's just so excited to be there. Great energy in the air. And of course I loved that it was a women's event. No sexist, misogynistic asshats to be seen.
We went to the FIFA Fan Zone for a quick lunch and watched some WWC footage on the big jumbotron screen set up there. It really got you in the mood for what was hopefully going to be a fantastic game. We headed to wait in line at the stadium, as the doors were opening at 1 (three hours before the game) and there was nothing else we wanted to do outside.
We met a lovely old lesbian couple from California standing behind us in line and chatted until the gates opened. Because we were near the front, we were certainly in the first 100 fans that entered the stadium (out of a grand total 53,341 who attended the game.) When we went in, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, because we kind of did! And just like I experienced as a kid when you first step out and see that big stadium with the baseball field, it was magical
The soccer field looked much smaller than I expected, and because of that, our seats were better than I thought they'd be. When you spend that kind of money, you think that nothing will feel "worth the price," but this was great. We had a fantastic view, and we were right next to one of the camera operators, so it was a great angle. You can see the crazy difference between sun and shade, as the roof was a dome but partially transparent. The sun moved across the field as the afternoon progressed, and I really do think it ended up making a difference during the game.
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
2015 World Cup Final - before from jarrow on Vimeo.
We had three hours until game time, but I didn't know when they'd come out to warm up, so I wanted to be sure we didn't miss it. (Turns out, an hour before the game.) Thank goodness I brought magazines! Finally, a few players started trickling out onto the field. The keepers came out first (Hope Solo! Ashlyn Harris!) and did some jogging to warm up together. They left, then maybe ten minutes later both teams came out in full to run drills.
THEY WERE RIGHT THERE! EEEEEE!!! I bought nice binoculars on Amazon before the game specifically for this purpose, and Lara really enjoyed watching her favorites warm up. I find, with this team, there are so damn many people that I have developed affection for, I would be looking from one player to the next going, "AHH! It's [name]! I love you!" *moves to next person* "AHHH!!! It's [name]! I love you!" and repeat ad nauseum. You can't just settle on watching on person because they're ALL wonderful. Emotional whack-a-mole.
So, with a few minutes to go, they all went back inside to change and get ready. The minutes counted down on the jumbotron, the seats filled, and then it was finally (finally) game time! The trophy was marched out, the players came out, and we sang the national anthem together. So yeah, those of you who watched the game live, I was there singing right along with them! (AHHH SO COOL.) We cheered as the starting line-ups were announced, and we were excited to see that it was exactly what we'd predicted (the same as for the Germany semi-final, basically).
back row: Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn, Hope Solo, Lauren Holiday, Megan Rapinoe
front row: Meghan Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, Carli Lloyd, Julie Johnston, Tobin Heath
The captains (Lloyd) did the coin toss (which it seems we won), the players took the field, and it was time to begin! I was really excited to see that Hope Solo was starting on the goal at our end, because that means the US would be scoring on our end in the second half, and that seemed to be when most of their goals came, from what I'd seen. (Ahahaha, welp, THAT didn't hold up here.)
The opening whistle blew, and they were off! And, wow. We had NO IDEA what we were in for.
I should take a moment to explain what I'd felt was my curse this whole tournament. I know I joked earlier about the low scores you see in soccer, but somehow, scores had seemed to be consistently low whenever I was watching a game. No, but seriously. Up until the quarterfinal aired, I had yet to witness a single goal being scored by any team. NOT ONE. IN SIX GAMES. Three of the early games I watched were all draws (0-0), and in the other three, they either scored the only goal when I ran to the bathroom or I had to miss half the game due to another commitment, and that was when they scored. I WAS SO MAD, you guys. I watched something like 6 hours of soccer in the WWC and didn't see A SINGLE GOAL. Just a whole lot of fucking attempts. At one point I remember being like, why am I doing this? Is it really THAT difficult?! WHEN WILL THE TENSION BE RELEASED?!
Of course that streak was finally broken in the quarterfinal, when they can't just draw anymore. I remember screaming "I SAW A GOAL! THEY SCORED A GOAL!" on the couch like a crazy person. Dear lord.
So, my point is, I felt cursed. I told Lara that the final would probably be a low-scoring game since, you know, *I* was there. (I am very powerful.) I apologized in advance.
I assume that most everyone reading this knows just how the game turned out -- with the most goals ever in a WWC final -- and is laughing along with me. CURSE LIFTED. Just when we needed it most!
So! SPEAKING OF GOALS. The game started, and we'd barely stopped cheering the opening kickoff when CARLI FUCKING LLOYD comes flying out of nowhere in our first corner kick, TWO MINUTES INTO THE GODDAMN GAME, and scores!!
LOOK AT THIS FACE I LOVE THIS FACE
WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. We were screaming our heads off! Goals aren't often scored in the first 20 minutes or so! Much less right away! The stadium went CRAZY. I was cheering like a madman, because I know how rare soccer goals are, and god only knew if were going to get to see another one. (Retrospect, I know, ahahaha, but we had no idea!) It could've played out for 88 more minutes and finished 1-0. So, we wanted to cheer as much as possible in that moment, and we did. I actually blew my voice out! (A few days later, it's starting to recover.)
Two minutes in, and the US had a safety net. Now Japan had to score not once but twice against the best goalkeeper in the world. Hope Fucking Solo. Who -- let's remember -- had not allowed a single goal in over 500 minutes of play -- not since their opening game against Australia. And now they had to do it twice. HA, good luck.
But then, no sooner was I processing that information, but CARLI FUCKING LLOYD DID IT AGAIN. LIKE THREE MINUTES LATER.
Look at how it goes right through their legs! Insane!!
The whole stadium erupted like a MADHOUSE. TWO goals in FIVE MINUTES?! We were already up 2-0?! How was that even possible! And, seriously, after the first goal, why did the Japanese players not have like four people guarding her?! But man, look at this amazing group of players. Running like a flock of birds, moving together like a well-oiled machine.
It took several minutes for the adrenaline rush to begin wearing off, but the smiles didn't fade, oh no. We were ECSTATIC. I'd predicted two US goals, but surely not in the first five minutes!! We'd taken two shots on goal and they both delivered. THAT was certainly different from the pattern I'd watched on TV for the past month. Japan finally got their first attempt and Solo blocked it (naturally), then it was our ball again. There was some back and forth, as soccer goes, but then, wouldn't you know, just five or so minutes after the second goal, THIS happens:
Lauren Holiday comes zooming up from midfield, catches the bouncing ball at just the right moment, and bangs in another one!
Watching the team's reactions, it was clear that we knew flat out, we're winning this game. With our defense being what it is, there was just no way that Japan was going to overcome a three-nothing deficit. Not happening. It was only 13 minutes into the game, and we were celebrating our victory. We had it in the bag. The Japan team was in a huddle on the field regrouping and probably trying to figure out how the hell they were going to stop this juggernaut of an offense we have. And by this point I learned that I have an official "goal reaction" now, seeing as how I'd just done the same thing three times in a row -- scream "YYYYYEEEEEEAHHHHHHH!" and jump up and down about thirty times waving my tiny little American flag back and forth. Hehe.
Play resumed while all of us are still screaming and hugging and cheering because, holy shit, HOW IS THIS REAL LIFE, but before we could even catch our breath, we saw the most amazing moment of the entire day.
THIS WAS LITERALLY 1 MINUTE AND 15 SECONDS LATER, YOU GUYS. (I CHECKED.)
CARLI FUCKING LLOYD, YOU GUYS.
CARLI. FUCKING. LLOYD.
She saw her chance at FUCKING MIDFIELD with the goalie out far, and she took it, and she got the most amazing goal I've ever seen. (Yes, in my limited experience, but still.) We went ABSOLUTELY BATSHIT WILD in the stadium, y'all. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard. Watching the video now back gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes. It was pure magic. There's just no other way to describe it.
And let's take a moment to recognize some of the records at play here, shall we? Because not only did Lloyd score a hat trick, which is pretty amazing it itself (I think they said something like only 20 of them in World Cup history?) ---
- The only hat trick in a women's World Cup final, ever.
- The fastest hat trick (16 minutes) in World Cup history (men's or women's).
- The first player ever to score a WC final goal from the halfway line.
So, yeah, it was PRETTY FUCKING AMAZING TO WITNESS FIRST-HAND, MY FRIENDS, LET ME TELL YOU.
My memory's a bit hazy, because were were practically in a transcendental state of euphoria, but I think at that point Carli Lloyd took a victory lap like this:
So, yeah. Sixteen minutes into the game, and we're up FOUR-ZERO. I never would've believed it. I STILL don't believe it, and I SAW IT. Lara and I had quite a conversation about how we will never, ever see another game like this one in our entire lives. It's already big enough that it's a World Cup final, but now THIS?! We screamed until we were hoarse and soaked up every moment, because it would never be repeated. I sure picked a hell of a game to be my first soccer match, RIGHT?! Jesus christ. This was beyond my wildest dreams.
Things did calm down after that, heh. Japan finally got a goal 27 minutes in, and I was glad that the fans there were able to celebrate something. There was a louder cheer than I'd expected, honestly! Good for them. I did feel bad for Hope Solo, though, who finally had her streak broken :-( She'd come so close! It was 4-1 going into halftime. My prediction was that we'd score one more and finish at 5-1. I wasn't far off!
Soon into the second half, at the 51-minute mark, Japan got a free kick, and Julie Johnston tried to head it away, but it bounced into the corner of the goal, just beyond Solo's reach. It's of course super awful when you score an Own Goal, but at least we were so far ahead that it didn't matter. Poor JJ though :-( What I did appreciate was that the announcer in the stadium, who'd been calling the names of each player who scored, simply said "a goal credited to Japan" without saying who'd put it in. That was respectful.
BUT THEN! TWO MINUTES LATER!
This is possibly my favorite gif of the day.
Tobin Heath! FIFTH GOAL!! Lara was particularly excited because that's her favorite player. We all felt much better knowing that JJ's OG had just been canceled out. The US just absolutely refused to give up this game. It was GLORIOUS.
The final 35 minutes of the game were fairly calm, and we just watched as USA held them to those two goals and no more. Lara and I tried to embrace every minute because those ninety do go by so fast. Earlier in the game, I'd been frustrated that I didn't have phone service (international, remember); I wanted to share the experience with my friends on Twitter, but eventually I realized it was better without distractions. I wanted to live in the moment completely. We were THRILLED to see Kelley O'Hara come in as a sub, then Abby Wambach, playing in her last WC game ever. In fact, when Wambach came in, Carli Lloyd ran over and gave her the captain's armband. I thought that was really amazing of her to do. She is a true class act.
And how cool that they put Rampone in for the final three minutes? Really neat to give them a great send-off memory like that. At the final whistle, it was a tad anticlimactic because we knew we were going to win the whole time, but it was quite nice having it cemented nonetheless. In fact, hilariously, the digital message that said "Congratulations, USA, World Cup Champions!" displayed all around the stadium went up BEFORE the game was over! It displayed for a moment at the 90-minute mark, before the three minutes of stoppage time. Ha! Oops. Someone must've noticed, because it was only there for a quick second. But three minutes later, time was up and there was even more cheering, of course, because we were champions.
The team spilled out onto the field and hugged and ran back and forth a bit to take it all in with the cheering crowd.
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
2015 World Cup Final - after from jarrow on Vimeo.
And, yeah, it's exciting that my country won a top international tournament. And it was incredibly exciting to be there to see it. But, personally, this was all about these players. With the emotional investment I have now, seeing these women celebrate with each other was everything to me. EVERYTHING. I'd only been following them for a month, but they'd been through so much together, both highs and lows, over years. And now they'd achieved their dream. Together.
LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ARE.
Did you catch that part? Where we are the first women's team to win 3 World Cup titles? Yessssssssss.
We had to really high-tail it out of there after the game to be sure we beat the traffic back to the border (I had a 1am flight out for FaberryCon!) But of course we wanted to see the trophy presentation and celebrate more with the crowd. To FIFA's credit, they wasted no time. As soon as the final whistle blew, they were wheeling out the podium. The team kept soaking in the fans' cheering while the podium was being set up, and we could see on the jumbotron that many players were pretty emotional. There was a particularly touching moment when they ran over to their spouses in the crowd. ♥
Abby Wambach and her wife
Each player was given an American flag to hold. Many ran laps with it, others just wrapped it around them and looked out at the crowd. It was so beautiful. You could tell they'd waited their whole lives for this moment. All the sweat and pain and tears, the tens of thousands of hours of work was worth it.
Then, the teams made their way over for the awards presentation. Unfortunately, the podium faced the opposite side of the stands, so we relied on the jumbotron to show us what was going on. As soon as the FIFA officials were announced, the entire stadium BOOED! Holy crap! The camera was on the US team at the time, and Hope Solo and others made faces like "...awkward..." It was kind of hilarious and really in contrast to all the cheering for the players. But the crowd calmed down, and the individual awards were first, like the Golden Ball and Silver Boot to Carli Lloyd, then the Golden Glove to Hope Solo.
Then, Japan got their silver medals. They were clearly crushed by the results. It's one thing to lose, but another to lose in what must have felt like a pretty embarrassing way. I saw many pictures online of the US team in 2011 looking just as despondent as Japan did today. The roles had been reversed. And now the trophy -- and the gold medals -- were ours.
I. LOVE. THESE. PEOPLE.
Not to end on a sour note, but FIFA really needs to get its shit together, because this is absolute bullshit:
I could go on a huge rant about how angry this makes me, but I'm going to hold that in for now. I want to stay in my happy place, and THIS TEAM is my happy place. I may have watched the first 15 minutes of that game several times since, simply because it brings me so much joy.
Congratulations, ladies. Champions of the world.
I have been converted to the world of soccer. And I'm loving it.