USA vs Brazil Lives Up to the Hype, USA Overcomes Incredibly Awful Officiating

Barely a minute into the match, Brazil's Daiane scored an own goal against her own team to give the US women a 1-0 lead which they carried into half time. Despite the lead, the US never quite got close to finishing off the Brazilians. About 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Brazilian striker Marta was given a penalty kick and Rachel Buehler was sent off with a very questionable red card. Hope Solo saved the PK, but the Australian referee ruled that Hope Solo moved forward before the PK was taken. Replays show this was not the case at all, yet Solo was shown a yellow card. The 2nd PK was taken by Marta herself, which Solo didn't save.

The game continued to be tied, mostly by the incredibly resoluteness of the US in fighting on with 10 players. But only 2 minutes into extra time, Marta scored yet another goal, this time passed to her by an offside player that the referee did not call. All hope seemed lost, but the US fought on to the final second. More questionable play from Brazil carried on as Erika faked an injury with 2 minutes left in regulation of extra time 2, leading to her getting a yellow card and giving the US 3 additional minutes of stoppage time in extra time. With only 1 minute left in stoppage time, Megan Rapinoe made an incredible assist to Abby Wambach, who headed the ball into the goal, scoring the latest goal ever scored in the Women's World Cup.

When it came down to penalty kicks, the equalizer was the uncertainty of Daiane as the 3rd kicker. It showed, as her shot was the only one Solo not only blocked, but the only one she dived in the right direction towards. With the final shot, Alexandra Krieger made the shot to finally end the match, fitting that today is the 12 day anniversary of the US' legendary match against China in the 1999 World Cup, but also because Krieger literally almost died 5 years ago.

The officiating in this match was beyond awful. 4 yellow cards were handed to each team, maybe only 2 of which were deserved, but Erika's yellow should have been a red card for deliberately faking an injury and wasting time. Offside calls were almost always wrong or called too tightly, one non-call which led to a Brazilian goal. If the US had lost this match, I think the question asked would have been, "Horrible officiating, or fixed match?" The case for either stands strong, with nearly every call going Brazil's way and both their goals coming off bad refereeing. But the football gods smiled down upon the US women, especially Abby Wambach who made sure the US would not be leaving Germany quite yet.

The crowd was also on the US' side after the penalty kick goal by Marta, the mostly neutral crowd feeling that the US was robbed. Chants of USA could be heard well into the final seconds of the match and even during the penalty kicks, while Brazil, especially Marta, faced nothing but boos and jeers.

It's difficult to imagine an even more dramatic match happening for the rest of the World Cup, especially given how much hype this match had. In Wednesday's semifinal matches, the USA takes on France, who eliminated England yesterday in penalty kicks. After that match, Japan and Sweden will face each other. Right now, the favorites to go to the Final are Japan and the US, but a rematch of the group stage match between Sweden and the US might prove to be much more dramatic.