Nadeshiko Champs!

I woke up 6 minutes into the game and then got hooked. Japan battled it out with the clearly dominant American women's team and against all odds managed to tie it up in the waning minutes of the match. Then they proved their spunk by potting in 3 penalty kicks to the USA's 1 thus taking the FIFA cup for the first time!



I knew nothing about Nadeshiko before this and discovered that it refers to a kind of Dianthus, which comes from the phrase 大和撫子 (Yamato Nadeshiko or ideal Japanese woman.)

On a sour note, when I first checked the Wiki entry, this is what someone had entered after their win, "Japan won the final on penalties after the game finished 2-2 after extra time. Victory was achieved when the slanty eyed one scored on their fourth attempt." It has since been revised to read, "Japan won the final on penalties 3-1 after the game finished 2-2 after extra time making the team the first Asian team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup."

It sure is a good thing I have a day off today. I've been up since 3:30.