Photo by Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
One goal in three minutes. Two in five. Three in 16.
The U.S. Women’s National Team ended nearly two decades of frustration by lifting the World Cup trophy on Sunday, and Carli Lloyd played a huge part in making it happen with her early hat-trick in the impressive 5-2 victory.
Lloyd scored three times inside the first 16 minutes at BC Place, including on a gutsy floated effort from near midfield, to help set the tone as the Americans won their first World Cup since 1999. The impressive goal-scoring performance from the veteran midfielder marked the first time a player scored a hat-trick in a Women’s World Cup final and earned Lloyd SBI’s USWNT Woman of the Match award.
Lloyd netted in the third and fifth minutes with finishes off of set pieces before burying an audacious effort from distance in the 16th minute, effectively putting the game out of reach and giving the Americans their third World Cup trophy in a rematch of the 2011 Final .
Lloyd beat out fellow U.S. veterans Lauren Holiday and Becky Sauerbrunn for the accolade.
What do you think of Lloyd winning SBI’s honors? Agree that she was the clear-cut winner? How clutch do you rate her performance?
Share your thoughts below.
If not THE best, She had One of the greatest World Cup final performances in history men or women
there was always only one player w/the audacity, will and sheer technical ability to score goal #1 and 3. wow.
Putting Morgan Brian into a holding role really freed up Lloyd to be the player she was in the knockout rounds of this tournament. I think that change made all of the difference to our team’s performance and Carli Lloyd’s ability to lead us to the title.
no doubt. forced maneuver because of cards for Holiday or planned? Brian did not play like this before the World Cup tho she spent some time on the right flank, not her position, but that kind of shows how Ellis was trying to find a spot for her on the field
Morgan Brian is my co-player of the tournament with Carli
+1 Morgan Brian will forever be one of the great anonymous heroes… scarcely put a foot wrong and was utterly instrumental to the”final product” that was this edition of the USWNT.
Make no mistake though… Ellis deserves a lot more credit that some would give her. I’ve watched this team quite closely since she took over (initially out of fear) and one thing that has always been certain is that she is acutely aware of her players’ individual characteristics.
Ellis realized early on (as did many of the coaches who achieved success) that this tournament would be won “back-to-front”, placing extreme importance on a rock-solid backline and a versatile and interchangeable midfield. She tweaked her resources cautiously, but always prudently.
If there was any “surprise adjustment” that took place, it was from the dimestore pundits who thought that a US victory would involve Morgan and Leroux (remember her?) scoring hat tricks in 6-0 victories over everybody. That was always a silly notion, and Ellis never bought in.
+1 Ellis, like her team, came on strong.
when Rapinoe and Holiday were forced to the bench Ellis showed herself and passed with flying colors. she switched players, systems, tactics…she got them all right. playing one formation in defense (4 4 2) and another playing out of the back (bucket 4 3 3, some have called it a 4 2 3 1 but the triangle in the bucket was distinct) was a master stroke, not only solving the midfield situation but also the striker one.
Saurbrun is another unsung hero. With Johnston getting so much recognition, and rightly so, Saurbrun just played her steady reliable game as always, came on strong as the tournament wore on while Johnston faded some, and cleaned up all the mess. the formation change also got the ball to the flanks more, and benching Wambach allowed the USA to play that high press and play it effectively
comparing this team from game one to the final, wow, what an evoloution!
That has to get LLOYD player of the year from US Soccer, ya thinks? Especially since LD has retired…
Jokes aside, this team shut the front door on every detractor out there. Totally schooled every last one of us naysayers and all our hand wringing about their slow start and defense first approach. Ellis and company did exactly what they needed to do to win, and the women played they hearts out these past two matches when it counted most. Best part? There are a number of players waiting in the wings to replace the old guard who went out on top tonight, so there’s every reason to expect that the program will keep going strong.
Four more years, Ms. Ellis?
Her first goal was clinical..
I bet all club/HS teams will be drawing up similar corner plays this fall.
she’s probably the only player in the tournament who even makes that run or attempts that shot…let alone makes it.
A hat trick inside 16 minutes. In the biggest global competition available. From the captain, who continued to play at an absurd level throughout. It’s highly unlikely we will ever see a performance like that for the rest of our lives.
It’s a 10/10. No need to politic. No need to journalize. Just call it what it is.
maradona just twitted that no performance like that has been seen at a world cup since he in 86
perfect tweet from Diego Armando! cheers to that right there
Can Klinsi add Lloyd to the USMNT Gold Cup squad? We need someone like that. What a dominating performance. Japan starting triple teaming her. Wow.
Move over Mia Hamm,…Carli Lloyd is now standing next to Michele Akers as the two best all-time USWNT players.
Her goal from midfield was crazy!!! She put on a masterclass. Bravo Carli.
what a way to cap off a hat trick…. wow
Pure class by the women. They stepped it up every game and put this one away early. Dominate performance by them in the biggest game.
Sasic won the Golden Boot. UTTERLY ABSURD!
Just because she played less minutes, such a dumb rule, even more so when her hat trick was against the worst side in the tournament.
+1 FIFA clowns simply cannot stop tripping over their own stoopid. Why would you consider a factor like “minutes played” before including a factor like “knockout round goals”. Nonsense.
These are the same guys who handed Leo Messi the Golden Ball for no particular reason last summer, so no surprises I guess. At least none of the top FIFA brass had the stones to show their faces.
I think she’ll be happy with the Golden Ball though. What a performance!
I think PK % should be taken into account before minutes played…;)
+1
LOL…had to deliberate hard on this one.