Author: Sam Goldfarb

Residents and tourists to Washington D.C. are pleased with the United States Women’s National Team’s triumph in this summer’s World Cup, soccer’s global championship.

The American women defeated Japan 5-2 on Sunday to capture their first World Cup title since 1999.

“I was surprised, happily surprised,” said Liz Kelaher, 48. “I didn’t expect two goals in the first few minutes.”

The U.S. scored these two goals within five minutes from kickoff and four goals in the first 16 minutes to put the game out of reach for the Japanese women in the early stages. Carli Lloyd also scored three goals in this short period of time.

Stephen Angelsmith, 33, the director of Peace Corps programs at American University’s School of International Service, said he was happy that his young daughter could see the women’s team win. He also said the win was great for all girls in America because players act as role models.

“Men’s sports and boys’ sports get so much attention, so it is great to see that the women are both successful and get attention for their achievement,” Angelsmith said.

This summer’s Women’s World Cup drew the largest total combined match attendance in tournament history, according to FIFA statistics.

Despite the large tournament attendance and large amount of TV viewers, some Americans are still talking about a gender imbalance in soccer.

Valerie Warren, 31, thinks that the TV ratings would have been higher if the U.S. men made a World Cup final.

“I think men’s sports are better advertised and marketed in terms of the media,” Warren said.

Kelaher also thinks there would have been a ratings difference.

“Men’s sports in general is a higher audience,” Kelaher said.

Americans took one negative aspect away from the game: the team’s defense.

The American back line allowed two goals. Yuki Ogimi, a Japanese forward, broke the U.S. back line in the 27th minute and Julie Johnston scored an own goal in the 52nd minute. These two goals gave the Japanese a lifeline until Tobin Heath scored and put the game out of reach for good in the 54th minute.

“We could have been tighter at the back in defense,” said 38-year-old Amber Clark.

However, Mitch Kieffer, 51, feels like this was not a huge problem and the United States’ big final victory is still generating positive vibes throughout the metropolitan area.

“You can’t complain,” Kieffer said. “They won.”

Many people on the American University campus are enjoying the U.S. women’s success in this summer’s World Cup, but some are not paying close attention as the U.S. prepares for the final against Japan.

While multiple students and professors knew of Tuesday night’s game against Germany, some were unaware of the big semifinal showdown.

Carolyn Turkaly, 19, said that the U.S. Women are not getting enough attention despite their consistent success.

“It’s a structural problem,” Turkaly said. “People in sports are mostly men, so they’re biased.”

Turkaly, who does not have a television set, says she follows the results by reading Facebook and news articles about the matches.

Some Americans did not watch their country’s 2-0 semifinal win over Germany for different reasons.

Anila D’Mello, 25, says that she didn’t watch the game because she was busy and had her cousin in town. D’Mello claims that she watched the U.S.-Sweden match last month. She also believes that the men’s World Cup generated more interest from Americans than the women’s tournament.

“This happens across the board in sports,” D’Mello said. “People think that men are greater athletes, whether or not that’s true. There is also less funding in women’s sports.”

While the men have played their World Cups on grass, the women played this summer’s World Cup on artificial turf, which takes a toll on player’s bodies when they make contact with the ground.

Despite all of the people who aren’t paying attention to the women’s World Cup, there are many who watched Tuesday Night’s game.

Emily Davis says she enjoyed the match. “It was an exciting match to watch. We have a really good team,” Davis said.

Tanesha Singletary, a 23-year old grad student, also watched the U.S.’ victory. “It was a pleasant surprise,” Singletary said. Germany is ranked number one in the world by FIFA’s world rankings and was favored over the second-ranked United States.

Many people on the AU campus also said that soccer in general is a growing sport in our country and remain confident ahead of the big final on Sunday.

“Go USA. Yeah, we’re gonna win,” Turkaly said.