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Tuesday, July 7, 2015 3 DAILY PRESS SOCCER WOMEN'S WORLD CUP ANDY CLARKAFPGETTY IMAGES ABOVE: Members of the United States team celebrate winning the World Cup match against Japan Sunday. BELOW: USA's Carli Lloyd, in white, scores a goal against Japan. U.S. team looks to the Olympics mi mmmam While the defense was the team's strength throughout the month-long event, the attack was at its best at the beginning and end. The Americans scored three goals in the opener against Australia and five in the final; in between, they managed just six in five games.

Lloyd recorded all six of her goals in the last four matches to join Germany's Celia Sasic atop the tournament scoring chart Eleven of the team's 14 goals were scored by midfielders. Ellis, a longtime U.S. youth national team coach, had been on a tight timetable since accepting the job in spring 2014. She had one year to prepare the team for the World Cup two years is optimal and now has 12 months to get ready for the Olympics in Brazil (assuming the Americans qualify). Only 20 players are permitted on the Olympic roster, three fewer than the World Cup, which creates increased competition for a ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

The Americans have won the gold medal in three consecutive Olympics. Before turning full attention to the Summer Games, the U.S. squad will embark on a 10-game victory tour. Two matches have already been announced, both against World Cup participant Costa Rica: Aug. 16 in Pittsburgh and Aug.

19 in Chattanooga. As of Sunday morning, more than 26,000 tickets had been sold for the visit to Heinz Field and that number was expected to soar after the U.S. victory. The second match sold out quickly at the stadium in Tennessee. Additional dates in the fall are in the planning stages.

Australia, a World Cup quarterfinalist, is a likely opponent for two matches. By Steven Goff The Washington Post VANCOUVER Atop BC Place's championship stage Sunday, 21 U.S. women's national team players formed a semi-circle around Abby Wambach and Christie Rampone. The squad's longest-serving members accepted the gold-plated World Cup trophy from FIFA senior vice president Issa Hayatou and, on the count of three, hoisted it to the heavens. It was a moment 16 years in the making and one that symbolized both triumph and transition.

The Americans won a record third world tide and, coupled with their collection of Olympic gold medals, raised their count of major championships to seven. But with the Summer Games just a year away, the roster is sure to undergo change by next year. The 5-2 victory over Japan probably marked the end of major international competition for Wambach, a 35-year-old forward with four World Cups behind her, and Rampone, a 40-year-old defender with five. Wambach started three of the first four games before accepting a substitute role. Rampone made two appearances.

Both were on the field at the end of Sunday's match, a touching salute to longtime contributors. Other players will move on, as well. This was, after all, a veteran group: 10 players are age 30 or older. Carli Lloyd, the three-goal scorer in the final and Golden Ball recipient as the tournament's most outstanding player, will turn 33 this month. Lloyd and several others will remain in the mix for the Olympics and then perhaps consider stepping aside ahead of the next World Cup.

and wing for the U.S. squad. "They have shown very clearly that they belong," Ellis said of Johnston and Brian. "There have been big moments in big games for them In terms of the future, it's very bright There will be transition after this World Cup." There is no major transition with the coaching staff Early in the tournament, when the Americans were sputtering along and a berth in the final appeared unlikely, Ellis' decisions were subjected to increasing scrutiny. If the United States failed to reach the final, would she retain her job? But her adjustments in the knockout stage, providing more support for Lloyd in midfield and settling on the lineup and for- COMMENTARY WOMEN'S WORLD CUP Ratings soar to record highs, NICHOLAS KAMMGETTY IMAGES PHOTO mation in the final matches, brought accolades from players and observers alike.

"I just want to thank Jill," Lloyd said. "I know lots of people were worried about us, but we all held together, we all stayed the course, we all executed the game plan. What Jill did and the coaching staff did from start to finish earned us this World Cup." Ellis, in turn, credited her players. "As the teams get harder and the pressure gets bigger," she said, "this team gets better because that is how they are engineered. These players were born for big moments.

This is what they relish." Ellis' contract runs through next year's Olympics. but what's The ascension and thus progress will likely remain slow. Until that changes, enjoy the temporarily enhanced glow of America's excep-tionalism. Ch ch changes. In what should be of no surprise to anyone after the local Fox Sports cable entities cut free some talented Web-based writers (Zac Jackson, Joe Reedy), the trend has hit the sports network at the national level.

Fox Sports 1 announced changes in strategies (less travel, less coverage of events for which they don't hold the rights) and personnel so say goodbye to more talented folks on the sports news side, according to reports. What's the deal? Just as it was not difficult to predict that rights fees for sporting events would increase significandy (think the NBAs $2.66 billion deal with its broadcast partners) with multiple entities having interest in them, it's just as easy to predict that eventually sports cable outlets would Wambach, Rampone and Lloyd are sure-bet U.S. Hall of Famers. The next generation is headed by defender Julie Johnston, 23, and midfielder Morgan Brian, 22, who played pivotal roles this summer. Johnston logged every minute of the tournament, while Brian made six appearances and helped stabilize central midfield in the last three games.

With a new World Cup cycle starting, Ellis will aim to integrate other young players, such as Washington Spirit star Crystal Dunn, 23, the last cut from the squad in Canada. Dunn is a versatile and athletic prospect who leads the National Women's Soccer League in scoring this summer but plays outside back en also won. It topped ratings for the U.S. team's last finals appearance in 2011 by a whopping 77 percent, according to Fox. So we're good, right? Soccer's on the ascension, right? Sure.

Maybe. America soon will realize that the most popular game on the planet is cool at last, right? We shall see. Soccer's come alongwayinthis country There are cities like Columbus with dedicated soccer venues and more are coming as the MLS is looking at expansion in markets such as St Louis, Miami and Minneapolis. The league plans to expand from 20 to 24 teams by the 2018 season. Ratings are up significantly for the league on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN.

FS1 averages 219,000 viewers for its games, a 54 percent increase over when they aired on NBCSN. They're up 18 percent on ESPN2. When you add in the fact that the MLS is enjoying record attendance of 20,873 fans per game in 2015, it mean? have to do something when the bills came due. Even the Worldwide Leader isn't immune to increased scrutiny because of costs. While its parent Walt Disney Co.

basked in the glow of second quarter earnings that beat expectations, a couple of reports singled out ESPN for draining just a wee bit of that financial mojo. No one is going to grieve for the Mouse House. Its bottom line for this year is secured because it was able to pry the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises away from George Lucas' warm, open hand. A new film for the former arrives just in time for Christmas as an early present for the geeks (of which I am one). But ESPN has a subscriber-fee based business model, and there's finally blowback from cable companies (think skinny bundles) and consumers (cord cutting).

Things are going to get seriously interesting in the coming months in this realm. there's reason to believe the sport has caught on with all of those 5-year-olds whose first exposure to any participatory sport was rec-league soccer on weekend mornings. That doesn't, however, explain Team USA's World Cup numbers. The way I see it is Americans love them some America, especially on Independence Day weekend. In this case, it's a pride thing, a patriotism thing.

Nothing wrong with that if it's your thing. However, I'm not foolish enough to be an absolutist on this particular subject Perhaps something is going on with soccer's acceptance because of the clouds that hover over other American sports such as baseball (too slow), football (too many concussions, making it too dangerous) and basketball (welp, could be more of a team game, but thatwouldbe asking a wee bit too much). Progress has been slow, however, for the world's sport in America. By George M. Thomas Akron Beacon Journal Prepare for the "America really, really loves soccer" memes to take hold in the coming days.

The reason? Record, stratospheric ratings for the FIFA Women's World Cup finals. How high were they? Fox Sports executives have to be grinning like a fox in the hen house. The 5-2 victory by the U.S. women's team over Japan keyed by Carli Lloyd's first finals hat trick earned a 27 share in overnight ratings, meaning of all the households with a television on Sunday night, 27 percent were tuned in to the game. That translates into a huge number of peepers 25.9 million viewers, according to Fox via Nielsen.

It is the highest-rated soccer game broadcast on a single network, according to Fox Sports, beating even the 1999 Women's World Cup final that the U.S. wom.