This wasn’t just any old game for the United States. They’ve been fighting since 1999 to win another World Cup title and have not ranked below third in the competition. You see, Japan and the U.S. have history. First off, the U.S. Women's National Team (WNT) was coming from their most impressive match ever, having defeated top-ranked Germany with a score of 2-0. Secondly, Japan was the reigning World Cup champ. Thirdly, this was a rematch of one of the most epic games that happened in the 2011 World Cup. Japan won 3-1, after penalty goals were scored. To top it all off, the U.S. snapped back in 2012 during the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal match, overcoming Japan with a score of 2-1.
Carli Lloyd was kicking butt and taking names at BC Place on Sunday. Within the first five minutes of the game against Japan, Lloyd scored two goals. Then she did it again. From half-field. Not only does Lloyd have bragging rights to the first hat trick ever made by a player in a Women’s World Cup final, but also holds the record for the fastest three goals for a single player in a World Cup game. She also took home more than just a gold medal. Lloyd was the recipient or the Silver Boot award, given for six goals and one assist during the World Cup. She also received the Golden Ball award, which is given to the best player in the entire tournament.
Abby Wambach played her final game for the USA. She came in during the 79th minute. During her career, she has had more than 180 goals and is the leading international scorer among women and men.
Hope Solo won the Golden Glove, an award given to the best goalie in the World Cup, without mistake. Solo established dominance early on in the tournament. After letting just one goal in from Australia’s Lisa de Vanna, Solo was relentless in guarding the United States’ fortress. Through seven hours of play, Solo refused to concede a goal.
The seven combined goals are the most in a Women’s World Cup final, and the United States’ five goals are a record for one team. This was one of the most amazing moments in sports history, much less American sports history.
What’s more shocking than the United States’ amazing victory is the fact that most people didn’t even know the Women’s World Cup was going on until today. I remember the men’s FIFA World Cup from last year. I was bombarded by every newsstand, sports channel, and newspaper with “hype material,” even though the United States had a very slim chance to win. There were sweepstakes to win tickets and commercials to entice viewers to tune in and watch. I remember article upon article about the stadiums in Brazil, with the smallest being able to fit more than 35,000 people and all being standard with lush, green grass. This is a vast difference to the conditions of the Women’s World Cup tournament. They played in a 32-year-old stadium that consisted of 10,000 seats and artificial turf, one of the worst venues for a player to perform in. This artificial turf caused enough grief to make star player open a lawsuit against FIFA only to have it dismissed shortly before the World Cup. Because of this, FIFA President Blatter did not even show up for the winning ceremony due to the "publicity" it might receive. Ridiculous if you ask me. Before today, I’m sure that majority of our population would not have known who Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd were.
It is honestly sad. The United States Women’s National Team accomplished amazing things and only a select few could even tune in to see it due to it being aired on a secondary channel. Why is it that a horse racing in a derby is able to be on a major channel, while a human women’s team is swept under the “secondary channel rug”? I feel that it is ironic that our Independence Day was a little over 24 hours ago and most did not watch these women defend our name on a playing field.
Gender inequalities in the sports world are just as terrible as those in Hollywood and corporate facilities, yet people are generally lukewarm on the issue. The question of why was summed up by Hollis Elkins, a former professor of women’s studies at the University of New Mexico. Elkins was the author of an essay that posed the question of why the women’s movement had never dabbled its interest in sports equality. There were four main reasons that Elkins concluded on which were as follows:
- Female athletes seemed indifferent about the women’s movement
- Sports were a frivolous privilege. They were not seen as important as issues such as equal pay and abortion.
- Feminists did not want to be challenged further by the idea of lesbianism that was associated with feminists and female athletes alike.
- Sports was seen as a masculine threshold, which turned many feminists away in the first place.
Cheryl Cooky, a professor of women’s studies at Purdue, says that sports media isn’t providing equal coverage either. “Men’s sports are going to seem more exciting,” she says. “They have higher production values, higher-quality coverage, and higher-quality commentary ... When you watch women’s sports, and there are fewer camera angles, fewer cuts to shot, fewer instant replays, yeah, it’s going to seem to be a slower game, [and] it’s going to seem to be less exciting.”
This points to the ever increasing issue of gender equality. The USA Women's Team is arguably one of the best in the world and yet they still cannot even gain the privilege of playing on real grass. Women get paid unfairly many times in the workplace, and that does not exclude prime time sports. Will there ever be an even playing field?
