We Are the Champions……of the World!

(All photos in this post courtesy of US Soccer's Facebook page) — (All photos in this post courtesy of US Soccer’s Facebook page)

The United States won the FIFA World Cup! Oh, wait, you didn’t hear? Well you must live on the moon then (or maybe in some country outside of North America), ha ha. For real though, the US Women’s National Team won the World Cup on Sunday and we are super pumped about it. It was also a crazy fun game to watch. And I maaaaay have even screamed GOOOOOAAAAAAL loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. Just maybe. I will not, however, talk your ear off about it. There are plenty of people writing plenty of articles about it. In case you did actually miss the game though, here are some of the high points: (besides of course the awesome final score of 5-2)

Individual Records

FINALS
- Fastest goal in Women’s Final (Carli Lloyd, 3′)
- First hat trick in Women’s Final (Carli Lloyd)
- Fastest Hat Trick any game (Carli Lloyd, 16′)
- Most goals in a Final (Carli Lloyd, 3)
- Second Hat Trick in any Final (Men or Women)
- Oldest player in a Final (Christie Rampone, 40)
TOURNAMENT
- Oldest Player in a tournament (Christie Rampone, 40)
- Most matches with at least 1 goal (Abby Wambach, 12)

Team Records

The Dept. of Defense (so named by Megan Rapinoe) is: Meghan Klingenberg, Julie Johnston, Hope Solo, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Ali Krieger — The Dept. of Defense (so named by Megan Rapinoe on her Twitter and US Soccer on their Instagram) is: Meghan Klingenberg, Julie Johnston, Hope Solo, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Ali Krieger

FINALS
- Most Goals Scored in a Final (5)
- First Final Rematch
- Most watched soccer game in US history (26.7 mil. viewers on Fox and Telemundo)
TOURNAMENT
- Oldest Average Age (29 yrs 5 mos)
- Most Tournaments without a loss (3)
- Most minutes without conceding a goal (540, tied with Germany)
- Most Championships (3)

And here are some of the most memorable images from this year’s World Cup.

Amy Rodriguez and Ali Krieger preparing for a game, that’s what you call teamwork!

Alex Morgan fouled by goalie — Alex Morgan fouled by Columbia‘s goal keeper Catalina Pérez

Megan Klingenberg's head save against Sweden, that saved the tournament — Meghan Klingenberg‘s head save against Sweden (that incidentally saved the tournament)

Kelley O'Hara's bloody nose against China — Kelley O’Hara‘s bloody nose against China

Yellow Card for Julie Johnston against Germany‘s Alexandra Popp. Lucky for the US, Célia Šašić missed the Penalty Kick

Tobin Heath goes for a ride on Germany‘s Tabea Kemme

Team selfie after the final practice of the tournament

....and the team raising the championship trophy — The team raising the championship trophy

and finally Ali Krieger with the hardware (but we don't play favorites around here, lol) — And finally Ali Krieger with the hardware (but we don’t play favorites around here, lol)

NOTE: At the beginning of this article you may have noticed that I did not specifically mention the Women’s World Cup. That was for 2 reasons: First, as is US Soccer’s motto, we are “One Nation, One Team” and as such I am proud of my Nation for winning a World Cup regardless of which team won. Second, I am getting tired of the Women’s Team’s accomplishments being somehow seen as less significant or worthy. They did, after all, just win the Worlds’s biggest prize on the World’s biggest stage. And on a more personal note, I am a fan of women’s soccer and I don’t care what anybody says. Some people may not recognize it, but these girls got game.