What a wonderful surprise the 2011 Women Football World Cup was! A great sporting event!

I wrote disparagingly about football (called soccer in the U.S.) I was referring to men’s soccer, as if women’s football didn’t exist! Sorry, gals — I am really sorry!

Men’s soccer turned into an extremely boring sport for the past two decades (at least). Men play NOT TO LOSE, instead of winning. Men move the ball east to west, instead of south to north. It’s like male footballers walk a dog from side to side. Not to mention that they behave a lot like wimps. They dive at the least contact. They try to fool the referees into granting them penalties. Most male footballers really provoke disgust in a non-soccer world, such as the United States. The Americans call the soccer players WIMPS.

Disclosure: I loved soccer more than anything else in my youth. I loved to play the game. I still believe soccer is the best sport to play. It requires a lot of motion and stamina. It is very good for health. Professional soccer, however, is a totally different matter. Again, it is mainly because the pros play NOT TO LOSE.

What a contrast women’s football is! The girls look lovely. They play TO WIN — and they enjoy every moment of it. The girls foul too, but they don’t fake it. The girls don’t try to turn a foul into a tragedy!

I was also impressed with the heart the football ladies played with. I saw a few impressive games, when the girls never gave up. The American ladies seemed to be eliminated by Team Brazil in the quarter finals. The Americans were trailing 2 — 1 in overtime. But the Americans continued playing and scored the equalizer in the last seconds. Team USA went on to defeat Brazil 5 — 3 in penalty kicks!

I saw two other great games — more joyful to watch than any men’s game in World Cup 2010. USA beat France 3 — 1 in semifinals. Also, Japan beat Sweden 3 — 1 in semifinals.

Japan and USA met in the World Cup Final. USA was favored to win, as having a lot more experience (two times world champions). They had beaten Japan 20 times or so before; Japan had never won a game against Team USA. USA was a more physical team, while the Japanese were better technicians.

The 2011 Women Football World Cup Final is a classic.

The game started with Team USA dominating the first half. USA could have easily led at the half 3 — 0. Instead, the first half was scoreless. Team USA scored first in the second half. The game looked over. Still, the Japanese ladies kept playing and they scored the equalizer. I was very happy when the game went to overtime! Team USA took the lead again. Japan equalized again with 4 minutes left in overtime.

I didn’t want that game end!

It was time for penalty kicks! USA had won a World Cup in penalty kicks before (by defeating China in 1999). This time, however, something shocking happened. Team USA missed their first three penalty kicks! Japan won 3 — 1. I was sad that the game had to end.

It is a very special event for the Japanese people. The entire nation of Japan was lifted by their national team of women’s soccer. The Nippon football ladies brought comfort to a badly hurt nation. The tsunami tragedy of 2011 was somehow eased by the wonderful women football team of Japan.

Ion Saliu