The Samurai Blue Wave

First and foremost hearty congratulations to the ladies of the Japanese National Soccer Team, affectionately called "Samurai Blue" for fighting most admirably and constantly persevering throughout all of their matches, of course especially during the Final against the USA!

As some of you may or may not know, this is the furtherest in the tournament

the squad has ever been, lead by captain Homare Sawa.

2011 marks her 5th FIFA's Women's World Cup Appearance.

Not only did they win the tournament, but Sawa also won The Adidas Golden Boot (having scored 5 goals, 1 assist)  & The Adidas Golden Ball, for being the most outstanding player of the Tournament.

The squad also won the FIFA Fair Play Award, for collecting just 5 yellow cards and 1 red card.

Now that I've gotten all the praise of my chest, I can really go in to what this blog entry is really about. 

Throughout the whole of the Final match against USA, I continuously kept repeating that it just wasn't meant to be for them, them being the USA... simply because if it were, the game for all intents and purposes would have ended with a score line of about 6 - 2.

One can not help but admit that there was something quite interesting about that game, try as they could the USA just couldn't get the ball in the net. The mighty USA who had won the trophy twice before. It definitely wasn't the fact that they lacked the skill, speed, technique, or determination. They attacked the goal over and over again, never flinching or losing faith with each unbelievable miss. But I have digressed, this blog isn't about the USA either, not directly anyway.

There was more than heart and determination of the field that day... there was spirit and soul... During the game I had an epiphany, of sorts, recently I noticed that every time a major natural disaster happened somewhere, soon after a team of the most affected area would go on to win a major tournament, The New Orleans Saints for example. I wondered if Japan would prove my theory right, and that they did.

There was more than heart and determination of the field that day... there was spirit and soul... Not only did Japan as a nation rally behind their team, staying up to watch the game, but I like to believe the souls who lost their lives on March 11th, 2011 in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, also stuck by their team... Helping fuel their purpose, their passion, their need to carry on and win the gold, knowing it was just the type of uplifting that would be needed to bring about a sense of pride and togetherness, in a time when it is definitely needed the most. 

Maybe to say that spirits literally blocked & deflected the USA's goal attempts may be pushing it, but I've said it anyway :) Fate simply wasn't on the USA's side, this was not their year to shine... this year was all about Japan, and boy did they ever prove that they deserved it.

Thank you Samurai Blue, for teaching us all that with, heart, love, strength and lots  determination, that even the smallest team, literally, can walk among the giants and win the gold.