LYON, France They ran roughshod over the best field in history, winning seven times in seven ties. They scored a record 26 goals, gave up just three, and in 630 minutes of soccer, they never trailed.
The Americans made their run to a second straight Womens World Cup title look easy. It was anything but.
So when it ended in a 2-0 victory over a stubborn Netherlands on Sunday before a raucous crowd of 57,900 at Stade Lyon, the U.S. players wrapped one another in flags and hugs and shared both cheers and tears.
I dont know if Ive collected my thoughts just yet. Im so emotionally exhausted, said Alex Morgan, the co-captain who finished with six goals in this World Cup.
The scores Sunday came from Megan Rapinoe, who was named the tournament MVP, on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and from World Cup newcomer Rose Lavelle, who sealed the Americans fourth world championship in the 69th minute.
The whole experience hasnt really hit me yet, Lavelle said. Its so surreal now.
Especially given the long, circuitous and difficult route the U.S. took to get here.
A year after winning her first World Cup as coach, Jill Ellis saw her team eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics, the earliest exit from a major tournament in the proud programs history. So she completely rebuilt the team from top to bottom. Roster, tactics, everything.
I knew after 2016 we had to deconstruct this and reconstruct it, Ellis said. That was the plan. We had to continue to evolve because the game was growing so fast.
That was hard. But I think that was ultimately the right decision. To get to this point and see the validation in that and the trust in the players that came through that, it speaks for itself.
She auditioned more than 60 players, 11 of whom made their first Womens World Cup team this summer. Seven others were participating Sunday in their third straight World Cup final.
Its been a roller coaster. And I think any player that you ask has gone through their own individual ride where it was high, where they were low, said defender Becky Sauerbrunn, one of
the many warriors who were knocked to the turf repeatedly Sunday, only to get back and fight on. You just kind of had to ride that roller coaster to make the team.
And then to win this tournament is kind of a testament to all those paths and all those journeys.
Sauerbrunn epitomized the grit and determination those journeys produced. After suffering a nasty gash above her right eye in a collision with Dutch midfielder Danielle van de Donk early in the second half, she went to sideline for repairs and returned wearing a clumsy looking bandage on her head.
She finished the game.
Kelley OHara lost her position, then her spot on the team, moving from midfielder to outside back before surgery on her right ankle in October appeared to end her World Cup hopes. Instead, she started six games here, and when the final whistle sounded, teammate Julie Ertz put her arms around OHara and whispered congratulations in her ear.
