Wiedmer: Scenic City will welcome 'rock stars' of U.S. women's soccer

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United States beats Japan 5-2 for record third Women's World Cup title

The United States beats Japan 5-2 for record third Women's World Cup title.

Payback is heaven.

Is there any other way to look at what took place in the Women's World Cup final between the United States and Japan on Sunday night in Vancouver? What better way to wash away the pain of that penalty-kicks loss to the Land of the Rising Sun four years ago than to bury it 4-0 over the first 16 minutes, then cruise to a 5-2 win?

What better way for U.S. Soccer to justify those ridiculously high ticket prices for that Aug. 19 "friendly" against Costa Rica at our town's Finley Stadium than to say, "Hey, when was the last time your kids got to say United States and World Cup champs in the same sentence?"

What better way to continue what seems to be a growing love affair in this country with the rest of the world's favorite sport than for the Red, White and Blue to win a third World Cup women's crown on Fourth of July weekend?

And has anyone more permanently become a Yankee Doodle Darling to the masses than Carli Lloyd, who will surely grace a Wheaties box cover in time to sign hundreds of them that night at Finley?

Three goals in the first 16 minutes, two game-winners in this World Cup alone and a hat trick in the final.

"Probably the best goal in women's history," exclaimed one Fox analyst at halftime of this stunning championship as she looked back on Lloyd's third goal of the opening half, the one that came from midfield.

Then again, why wouldn't she deliver such a kick? She previously scored four game-winning goals in the Olympics, including two in gold-medal games. She may not be the soccer purist's idea of a female Michael Jordan, Tom Brady or Mariano Rivera - SB Nation columnist Kevin McCauley wrote early Sunday: "She will annoy you to the point of rage, and then she will make the greatest clutch play you've ever seen."

But Lloyd is also what the U.S. men have always lacked - a game-changer when it matters most.

She's the biggest reason the U.S. women knocked off Germany in the World Cup semifinals. She's the final reason the U.S. women won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012. And she'll undoubtedly receive the loudest ovations at Finley, which is the way it should be.

"I don't want to win a World Cup just because people will stop talking about the '99 team," noted the 32-year-old Lloyd of that famous sorority of sisters who were the last team to win it all for the United States before this year. "I want to win a World Cup because I've dedicated my whole entire life to this and my dream is to be a world champion."

But it's also been the goal of 35-year-old Abby Wambach, who has scored more international goals in her career than any other male or female player. This was her fourth World Cup but her first title. Still upset with that 2011 loss to Japan, she said of that defeat, "We came home with the wrong trophy."

Now she brings home the right one in what figures to be her final World Cup match. No wonder the crowd in Vancouver gave her a standing ovation when she first entered the final in its 79th minute.

Still, it's hard to see any of this happening without Lloyd, whose six goals and one assist throughout this World Cup rightly earned her the Gold Ball, which goes to the MVP.

"She's my beast," said U.S. coach Jill Ellis - who did a monster of a coaching job - of Lloyd. "She's unbelievable. A rock star."

Maybe they'll all be treated like rock stars when they visit Finley 44 days from today. They'll certainly become lasting heroes to young women throughout this country. Or as Ellis noted, "I'm so happy for every little girl who dreams about this."

And this title match, won with such ease, recalled to mind so many dreamy team performances from our sporting past. The Seattle Seahawks routing Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos two years ago in the Super Bowl. The UNLV Runnin' Rebels destroying Duke in the 1990 NCAA title game. The Bronx Bombers sweeping the Braves in the 1999 World Series.

Those are the outcomes that get you mentioned in those "best team ever" arguments and Lloyd's hat trick - the fastest ever in World Cup play - may not only make her the rock star of women's soccer, but keep this 2015 team on every soccer fan's lips for decades to come.

As Fox ran replays of Lloyd's second goal, my daughter Julia Caroline noticed the back of Japan veteran of Shinobu Ohno on the television screen.

"That's appropriate," she said. "Japan's fans must be thinking 'Oh, no,' right now."

But in the United States, and especially for those fortunate enough to have purchased a ticket to Finley on Aug. 19, it was "Oh, yes." And hopefully as much for little and big boys as little and big girls.

Rock star athletes are rock star athletes, be they boy, girl, man or woman.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com