Japanese women, fans savor World Cup win

Having lived in Japan for oh, donkeys' years, I can tell you all, this really impacted Japan's mentality. It was really a shot in the ude. Them Japanese, they are still dealing with the radiation, and they are looking at energy shortages this summer and the atmosphere,it is is still largely depressing. I speak for 130 million people. This was something for the Japanese to smile about.

****I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game. Congratulations to the Japanese ladies who participated in the game and defeated a team that certainly believed it would bring the cup to America. Hope Solo sure played a fantastic game in helping Japan defeat the USA. They certainly deserved the win!!

Congratulations again to the ladies. You truly are an inspiration to the country and give hope especially during a year that saw much tragedy.

Looking forward to the Olympics next year. Go for the gold, Nadeshiko!

I have no problem with people getting behind teams during big events, but they way it goes on here is childish and sickening.

MrDog: FYI, it happens everywhere. I was reading several comments on U.S. websites about fans who tuned in rabidly as their women were doing good, only to write some head-scratching comments when they lost to Japan. Some of them started downplaying the sport of soccer as soon as the U.S. women lost and were "looking forward to watching Major League baseball again. Many made excuses like "soccer isn't a real sport" and "the U.S. felt sorry for Japan and gave them this game". I even read sick comments referencing in a disgusting way about Pearl Harbor and World War II and how "We won the war, so we gave them that game". But make no mistake about it, if the U.S. women had won, you'll be hearing it from those same "fans" for ages (at least until the 2012 Olympics), beating their chests and saying to the world that America is #1. To me, those kinds of fairweathered fans are sicker and more childish.

The thing is, Japan won because they were hungrier and played like they really wanted to win, while the U.S. underestimated the Japanese and played as it was their inherent right to win, since they are ranked #1 in the world.

@NetNinja

Of course they aren't as pretty as the women bareboru team members. But Sawa and co are now the face of pure determination and diligence. Just read Kirin agreed to give 100 man for each player, not sure bout the coaching staff thou. But yes, they deserve more rewards.

Take a good hard look at the remote control for your TV. Notice the little buttons with numbers on them. You can use them to switch channels. If that fails, look again and you'll see there's a bigger button that will actually turn the set off and stop all mention of AKB48 / Nadeshiko / whatever / whoever assaulting your senses

.

I did, finally. Great idea! I got my skyperfect going, so thanks for the advice, now I can have brain relief.

Great game. Congrats to the champions.

Winning is sexy, losing is not.

Readers, please stop sniping at each other. It reflects badly on yourselves.

who's to say that your american way of cheering is superior.

I'm British...

if you dont like it dont tune in, dont watch, dont read and dont comment. then your world will be perfect

You obviously didn't read what I wrote, so I guess I'll have to point it out for you:

I only watch TV very rarely at my girlfriends place and I haven't owned a TV myself in nearly 6 years. I'm talking about people who I work with and people who don't shut up babbling on the train etc...

maybe thats just to big a pill for you to swallow as you constantly try to nitpick on every story you see on here.

Who nitpicks the nitpickers... you? ;)

I'd rather say what I feel and be disliked then say what people want to hear just to be liked.

It's a very boring sport. It took the second half of the game to score. Very boring Rugby, NBA, sometimes baseball and football are my favorite sports. I love American football. " Real " football

Hahaha! Coming from a fan of merkin football, which can take 20 minutes to move 10 yards!

Its good win to lift Japans spirit after the tsunami and earthquake.

I just watched the press conference on TV, they look like clean, wholesome girls. On the pitch, they're warriors - World Class Athletes, the cream of the crop, savoring their victory and being applauded by their people for winning the battle.

Some of the comments posted here about their looks, who is hotter, and comparing them to the US team based on their physical beauty is so offensive, its mean, sexist, and degrading to women. We should give them credit for their tenacity, grit and determination, because they fought so hard to beat the odds, not criticize them for not being barbie.

Didn't some programs do profiles of Iwabuchi when she first got called up? Well, that was a rhetorical question since I've seen them.

I tire of talking about the appearance of the athletes.It's fine, I guess, on occasion, and if they tried to present themselves as models to be judged that way (France, Germany, the US to an extent), but they are athletes. Talk about their play.

I had to laugh at the comment about them making millions as a professional. The only women soccer players who are near that figure are those with the Nike contracts and such.

For every one person that thinks soccer is boring, there are 50,000 in the world who don't. Excitement in soccer isn't measured by shots on goal. But yeah, Japan could have been more aggressive in the first half.

if you dont like it dont tune in, dont watch, dont read and dont comment. then your world will be perfect

mrdog, I have no problem with people getting behind teams during big events, but they way it goes on here is childish and sickening.

if you had no problem with it you wouldnt be complaining. who's to say that your american way of cheering is superior. or more right than the japanese way. can't you accept that its just not the same? maybe thats just to big a pill for you to swallow as you constantly try to nitpick on every story you see on here.

The J girls soccer team are HOT. They can dribble my balls anytime desho !!!!

I must admit soccer is a very boring sport. But the women's world cup finals was aliitle exciting to watch. Especially alll the attempts made by Americans. The first half ( attempts ) 14-15 attempts to score by the Americans

5 attempts by the Japanese

It's a very boring sport. It took the second half of the game to score.

Very boring Rugby, NBA, sometimes baseball and football are my favorite sports.

I love American football. " Real " football

Off season American football is exciting too!!! The lockouts for mo' money. Hahahaha !!!!!

Yeahhhhh !!!!

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible" quoted by St. Francis of Assisi.

This quote certainly belongs to Japanese Nadeshiko ladies.

Take a good hard look at the remote control for your TV. Notice the little buttons with numbers on them. You can use them to switch channels. If that fails, look again and you'll see there's a bigger button that will actually turn the set off and stop all mention of AKB48 / Nadeshiko / whatever / whoever assaulting your senses.

I only watch TV very rarely at my girlfriends place and I haven't owned a TV myself in nearly 6 years. I'm talking about people who I work with and people who don't shut up babbling on the train etc...

It's like AKB48 how many times in a single week do I have to hear them talk about every little thing this band does?!

Take a good hard look at the remote control for your TV. Notice the little buttons with numbers on them. You can use them to switch channels. If that fails, look again and you'll see there's a bigger button that will actually turn the set off and stop all mention of AKB48 / Nadeshiko / whatever / whoever assaulting your senses.

I have an idea that I wonder what others think about it: As a tribute to not only this great soccer team, Nadeshiko Japan, but equally as a tribute and reminder of those lost in the great Tohoku disaster, on every school girl's soccer jersey, sew a swatch of pink just like on the World Cup winning players' jerseys. A simple yet powerful gesture. What do you say, Japan?

When I see comments hoping their glory whoud allow them to make more money, I am a little bit worried. For sure when they become professionals they should have a decent living. But from the moment they become stars and a club is ready to put millions to buy a player, the game is dead. Let's keep it a sport, not a business. Besides that great achievement. After France was out, Japan was my favorite team. Well done ladies !

Sawashima = solid defender, undisputed queen of perfect posture. She has a career waiting for her beyond the pitch.

Bwhahahaha @ NetNinja and MrDog leaving negative/sarcastic comments as always. Good job ladies you made us proud !!!!!!!

Not "negative/sarcastic comments"; realist comments, thank you very much...

They deserved to win, and deserve all the praise they get. I just wish Japanese people (I know not everyone) wouldn't turn into the biggest fan EVER of (insert flavour-of-the-month sport) every time the national team do well in it, only to forget about it in less than a month or so.

I have no problem with people getting behind teams during big events, but they way it goes on here is childish and sickening.

Good job. Welcome back Nadeshiko Japan. What a waste of water.

For Japan's team, maybe one or two of them will get Alsok ads (GK probably). Maybe a couple of them can be in Kirin TV CMs.

Yeah, but those ads will be playing for the next year day in and day out, we won't be seeing anything else on TV(Not that there are a lot of good programs in Japan to watch anyway)

But at the end of the day, it's just a game of football. The fuss will die down in time, as it should.

Oh, really and how soon is "soon?" A year?! Yes, I think they should celebrate, party, party hard, but after a week, give it a rest and don't bombard me with fussball world cup wins and constantly raping my brain with non-stop coverage and replays! It's like AKB48 how many times in a single week do I have to hear them talk about every little thing this band does?! It'll be the same thing.

Bwhahahaha @ NetNinja and MrDog leaving negative/sarcastic comments as always. Good job ladies you made us proud !!!!!!!

Great job yes. Makes women's football more interesting for me? Sorry, no.

Hate to say but the pace is slower, and the aggression is lower. It just isn't as interesting as men's football.

Still, well done to the J-women's team.

How come people like NetNinja say they definitely are not pretty? Of course they are. For me, Nadeshiko Japan is the the team that has the more numbers of cute players of all teams...definitely. I love this team and the girls.!!

I thought Hope Solo was Soccer Barbie

Grotesquely proportioned and plastic? That's not fair, she's quite a pretty girl and everything seems to be the right size and shape. Not like Barbie at all.

The vernacular press are saying that the economic boost from the Nadeshiko win could top a trillion yen. They've already signed to be the 'face' of the bento chain HottoMotto, Other interested parties include Toyota, Nissan, Panasonic and Toshiba, and there is talk of them appearing with the White Family dog Otosan.

Maybe it won't last for ever, but so what? When did it become normal for people to spend the rest of their lives in clover based on the outcome of a single football tournament in their 20s?

The Nadeshiko win gave Japan something to feel good about after months of bad news (and continuing), and they did well to beat some strong teams to emerge the winners. But at the end of the day, it's just a game of football. The fuss will die down in time, as it should.

C'mon now NetNinja - they can become the new face of TEPCO. If anyone can turn TEPCOs reputation around it is the Japanese soccer ladies, a couple of whom played for the mighty TEPCO FC until a few months back! BTW, Hope Solo may be pretty - shame she can't save goals! LOL

@pamelot

Japan's WNT, great soccer players. Pretty, definitely not. So there's no picture.

Team USA, those girls were so HOT, amazingly beautiful. I thought Hope Solo was Soccer Barbie when I first saw her.

They didn't lose the World Cup completely. Their faces will grace the covers of magazines. They'll make more money after the World Cup than Japan's girls.

For Japan's team, maybe one or two of them will get Alsok ads (GK probably). Maybe a couple of them can be in Kirin TV CMs.

The rest of them, even though they were great, will be has beens. 15 minutes of fame, that's my prediction. I'm not trying to be mean. Just looking at the business side of it. There's no picture on JT. Case closed.

There are usually pics of all sorts of J-ladies on this site, some with merit...

This would've been a capital time to include a photo, of a group of women who've earned a spotlight.

@wolfpack

Sports are great and it's always fun to cheer for your team but their are bigger things in life than a soccer match

I agree, but I also believe that sports brings people together even in trying times and can offer hope and faith in the human spirit.

@sakurako

One of the members said: I got power from resilient people of Tohoku. Some Tohoku people said: We got power of not giving up from Nadeshiko.

I'm moved to tears.

1,000,000. Yen for each player is an insult to injury, all of them deserve a great deal more

Don't worry, kbmorzart. Their world and future would probably change for better, and never be the same..

Sawashima and Maruyama worked for TEPCO, no longer. There's no team. They are signed to WPS now.

A million Yen is crazy, if indeed true. Maybe it is the bonus on top of what they were getting for each round.

1,000,000. Yen for each player is an insult to injury, all of them deserve a great deal more

I'm not sure they did it for the money, just the glory (and of course for the Tohoku people). A couple of them may pick up personal sponsorship deals (Sawa definitely should). Interestingly, I saw on the news that 2 of the ladies are TEPCO staff and play for TEPCO FC - this is probably the only cheering they have heard for months - they are used to being booed these days I'd imagine!

A shame that none of the so called movers and shakers were attending the final.

Ah, but think of the headlines if they had:

"So-and-so Deserts Japan during Tsunami Aftermath to Watch a Football Match!!"

****A shame that none of the so called movers and shakers were attending the final. 1,000,000. Yen for each player is an insult to injury, all of them deserve a great deal more

One of the members said: I got power from resilient people of Tohoku. Some Tohoku people said: We got power of not giving up from Nadeshiko.

@MrDog Great. Everyone is going to be rabid fans of women's football for the next 2 weeks now.. and how it should be, those girls deserve every second of that adulation.If it happened in Australia the press would give them 2 days tops

my god, how cool is that. we were watching in christchurch new zealand. we are so proud

My team lost but I loved the match anyway. It seemed as though the US dominated but Japan hung in there and took advantage of their chances - the US could not and didn't deserve to win. This should give the Japanese people a morale boost. I really liked how the Japanese team held up the banner at the end of their matches thanking other countries for their support. Sports are great and it's always fun to cheer for your team but their are bigger things in life than a soccer match.

Great. Everyone is going to be rabid fans of women's football for the next 2 weeks now...

I finally watched the end this afternoon after working like crazy. Great game. This stumped me though so I looked it up on jisho.org :Nadeshiko - for a pink mountain flower The second meaning is interesting too.

MUCH RESPECT to all the japanese women that played throughout the series.

That Japanese mens team couldnt do it !!!! YOU DID !!!!!!

Please go to Fukushima and show the trophy to the children of the quake hit area. Let them touch the trophy !!!!

Omedeto ladies from USA!

That was a good game too ! Good show ! I'm glad America lost anyway ! ;-)

Great Game I hope the women will get alot of endorsement deals.