Northwest Herald from Woodstock, Illinois • Page 20

SOCCER AND CYCLING Northwest Herald NWHerald.com WOMEN'S WORLD CUP fm Joy finally blossoms in battered Japan By Jz AY ALABASTER The Associated Press TOKYO This Japanese flower bloomed just when the country needed it most. A nation reeling from months of tragedy united in joyous celebration Monday after its women's soccer team nicknamed "Nadeshiko" for a pink mountain flower won the World Cup by beating the United States. Fans decked out in the team's dark blue colors hugged and sang in Tokyo as they watched the players lift the World Cup on live TV broadcasts from Germany. Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the victory the "greatest gift" to the nation, especially to the residents of the northeast coast most devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The twin disasters left nearly 23,000 people dead or missing and caused partial meltdowns at a nuclear power plant that added to the tragedy.

The "Nadeshiko" mountain flower is believed to be a symbol of femininity in traditional Japanese culture. But some fans said the players defied the traditional feminine role with their tough playing style. The team, which had to come back twice from one-goal deficits, demonstrated courage by playing "a diehard match even when they were on the back foot," Kan said in the statement carried by Kyodo news agency. Defense Minister Toshimi Ki-tazawa said the victory will encourage those working to help Japan bounce back. "I'm delighted.

The team showed great perseverance and sent a good message toward recovery from the major disaster," Kyodo quoted Ki-tazawa as telling reporters in Ao-mori. The team is expected to return to Japan today to a hero's welcome. Japan's players used the disasters as motivation throughout the tournament, watching pictures of the devastation from their homeland before some matches. The team displayed a banner reading "To our Friends Around the World Thank You for Your Support" before the final. Added Toru Komatsu, 22: "This is a chance to forget the nuclear disaster and everything else, to just to unite and celebrate." Several members of the national squad played for the former professional team sponsored by Tokyo Electric Power owner of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.

AP photo Japanese fans celebrate in Tokyo after Japan's Women's World Cup final victory. Page 6C Tuesday, July 19, 2011 5 Soccer boom? No. Big step? Perhaps 7 jT views Litke Let's begin by not overstating the case. Predictions of a soccer boom in America have done more to hamstring the development of the world's game here than all those well-organized, well-meaning parents who became youth coaches with no more than a vague idea of how it's played. And just so we're clear, there will be no explosion this time, either.

After the U.S. women stunned Brazil and just about everybody else in a quarterfinal match at the Women's World Cup, I wrote that if Americans didn't fall in love with soc Pia Sundhage AP photo The United States' Alex Morgan (front) celebrates Sunday with Abby Wambach after Morgan scored a goal against Japan in the Women's World Cup final in Frankfurt, Germany. Morgan, 22, finished the tournament with two goals and an assist. WOMEN'S WORLD CUP News not all bad for U.S. Future looks bright after surprising loss to Japan in final too early to say what she'll do, but she is 31, and her body is showing the wear and tear from the fearless playing style that has earned her third place on the all-time World Cup scoring list with 13 goals.

Wambach passed Michelle Akers (12) for top U.S. honors with her header in the 104th minute Sunday, her fourth goal of the tournament. "I'm not thinking about that right now," Wambach said when asked about her future. "I just want to spend some time with my teammates. This has been an emotional roller coaster and the Olympics are right around the corner.

We'll move on." Part of what has always made the U.S. so strong is the smooth transition from one generation to another, and the U.S. might have its most promise since the days of Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Bran-di Chastain. Solo, winner of the Golden Glove as the tournament's top goalkeeper, is in the prime of her career at 29. Morgan and Cheney, both 22, each finished the tournament with two goals.

Cheney also had three assists, and Morgan had one. Rapinoe displayed the accuracy and touch on the flanks so critical in coach Pia Sund- hage's desire for a possession-based offense, and has the energy and spunk to shoulder the burden of being the face of the team behind Wambach. No team found a way to contain speedy Heather O'Reilly, who makes a nice complement to Rapinoe on the opposite side of the field. Lloyd seemed to gain confidence in directing the offense as the tournament wore on, having one of her best games against Japan. That's not to say there aren't issues.

The Americans impressed fans with their grit and resilience in Germany, coming back to beat Brazil in the quarterfinals in a thrilling match, and then grinding down France. But as entertaining as they may be, the Americans have been making things harder on themselves than they need to be for almost a year now. They were upset by Mexico in regional qualifying, forced to beat Italy in a playoff to get the last spot in Germany. They dropped their first game of the season, to Sweden, then lost to England for the first time in 22 years so long ago Morgan hadn't even been born yet. After winning their first two games in Germany handily, they lost to Sweden, the first U.S.

loss ever in World Cup group play. By NANCY ARMOUR The Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany Once the Americans get over the disappointment of coming up just short at the Women's World Cup, they'll find plenty of reasons for optimism. The U.S. team pulled together amid a series of challenges that, only a few years ago, would have broken it apart. And while the illustrious careers of captain Christie Rampone, Shannon Boxx and maybe Abby Wambach are nearing their end, Lauren Cheney, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe proved in Germany they are more than able successors.

There's also another major title to be won at next summer's London Olympics, and qualifying starts in a few months. "It's just unfortunate, just a bummer," Carli Lloyd said after the Americans were stunned by Japan in a riveting final Sunday night, losing, 3-1, in penalty kicks after twice blowing leads in a 2-2 tie. "But there's another World Cup in four years." For some. The majority of the team will remain intact through London, but Rampone (36) and Boxx (34) are likely to call it quits after that. Wambach said it's on the way to the final.

U.S. coach Pia Sundhage, a Swede who played for her national team, knew only too well how fast the gap was closing between the American women and the rest of the world in terms of resources, organization and even quality athletes. She already had laid the groundwork for her squad to rely less on athleticism and more on technique; to play the way the best of the rest of the world does by moving the ball quickly and accurately under pressure. That Sundhage moved the strategy from the training ground to the pitch for the biggest match of their careers shows how much faith she had in this bunch. Even more than American football, soccer is a game of possession and finishing a few scoring chances.

The U.S. women succeeded at the first task, but came away with nothing too many times from the opening minute of the match through the final penalty kick. Even so, they came away with something. Up until now, the closest thing to a coherent playing style any American squad displayed on a world stage is what the English used to call "hit and hope." It involves defending countless attacks as if your life depended on it, then booting the ball up the field and hoping a teammate latches onto it and somehow beats a crowd of defenders to score. But this one time, even in a loss, the U.S.

women stuck their foot in the door and let their countrymen glimpse a wider world of possibilities. Given their legacy and continuing success, it's only fitting that they'd be the first to break through soccer's glass ceiling in America. The guess here is that you'll see the benefits as soon as next summer, at the London Olympics, and not just because the U.S. women will be out for vengeance. They never lacked for motivation, and they've already learned the game's most important lesson.

Now it's the men's turn. It's been a black mark on their record that a nation of 300 million has yet to produce even one striker good enough to sit on the bench of world powers like Spain, Brazil, Argentina, England or the Netherlands, let alone play in the first team. Anyone who thinks they're getting their fair share of elite athletes should consider what the NBA's dozen best point guards could do with a soccer ball if they grew up playing the game. So it's long past time to hope we hit that jackpot. It's time to start developing players who can tame the ball with their feet, move it and get it back with enough time and space to carve the same wide swath through the World Cup as their female counterparts.

There will be plenty of time before then to start talking about a soccer boom. Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitkeap.org. cer after that, well, maybe they never would. They did.

For exactly a week. But that's how plenty of love affairs go: torrid one day, indifferent the next. Plenty of Americans already love soccer. Anybody who doubts that should check out the exhibitions being played here this month featuring several of Europe's top clubs among them, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Most of their games will draw crowds that make last week's MLB All-Star exhibition look like the soft-ball game at a company picnic.

The overnight TV rating for the finale was 8.6, more than tripling Sunday's marquee event for the boys the British Open yet finishing as the second most-watched women's soccer game ever, trailing the 11.4 posted in the win against Brazil eight days ago. If you didn't get enough of the U.S. women last week, don't worry. They'll be on the late-night and early morning TV circuit this week. Traffic on social media was more eye-popping still, generating at its peak more tweets-per-second than either Britain's royal wedding or the announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death.

But there's no need to waste time wondering whether soccer ever will be as popular on these shores as the big three of football, baseball and basketball. It won't, for the next decade at least, for reasons we'll get to below. Since long-term relationships are built on learning, the better question is what Americans learned that they didn't know after all the previous predictions of booms that never materialized: two previous U.S. women's cup wins (1991 and 1999), playing host to the men's cup in 1994, the creation of domestic leagues for both sexes. If we're being optimistic, the answer is this: We finally saw a U.S.

team playing a style that we could call our own. If asked, every coach and ballplayer will concede a team learns more from a loss than a win. So it was again Sunday, when a determined Japanese team used the same grit and hustle that's been the hallmark of every U.S. soccer team, men or women, on a superior squad of Americans. That's how the U.S.

women beat Brazil and then in the semifinal, France, teams that featured more talented individuals and a better understanding of the game. But a funny thing happened TOURDE FRANCE Hard-luck Contador in attack mode excruciating climbs Thursday and Friday that will leave riders exhausted before the 26-mile time trial Saturday. Stages 18 and 19 feature enormous treks up Col du Galibier, Col d'Izoard and L'Alpe d'Huez all of them known as HC climbs, or Hors Categorie, because they are too demanding to have a classification. "The climbs in the Alps are different than the Pyrenees, they are longer and at a higher altitude," the 28-year-old Contador said. "Some riders will suffer from that.

But we need to attack, that's for sure." Contador lost a lot of time to the Schlecks and Evans when he was caught behind a pileup on the first stage. The bad luck he had then set the tone for the rest of his race. It proved to be a bad omen with Contador falling on stages 5 and 9, banging his right knee twice. By JEROME PUGMIRE The Associated Press PIOULENC, France Alberto Contador knows he is running out of time, and stages, to close the gap on his Tour de France rivals. The Spaniard's bid for a fourth Tour title has yet to get going as the race enters its final week, a combination of bad luck and a nagging knee injury conspiring to make it difficult for him to launch his trademark attacks in the mountains.

"This is probably the hardest Tour I've done. I have lost a lot of strength since the beginning," Contador said Monday, the Tour's second rest day. "It's true that without the time loss from the first stage I would be in a good position to win the Tour, and just waiting for the last time trial." Contador must first find a way to claw back from a four-minute deficit on race leader AP photo Three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (above) trails leader Thomas Voeckler by four minutes after 15 of 21 stages. and Ivan Basso by 44 seconds. Contador and his Saxo Bank team have no choice but to be aggressive in the high climbs of the Alps this week.

The 17th stage Wednesday from Gap to Pinerolo features only one category 1 ascent and won't be as testing as the Thomas Voeckler. He also lost time to Andy and Frank Schleck of Luxembourg and two-time runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia. After 15 of 21 stages, seventh-place Contador trails Frank Schleck by 2:11, Evans by 1:54, Andy Schleck by 1:45.