by Danielle Lowe

THE Women’s World Cup is over, the medals and trophies have been handed out, teams are returning home and to club training and fans have been left astounded by extraordinary competition they have just witnessed.

The England team were determined to finish the competition on a high note and Laura Bassett stood strong in the starting line-up in their third-place play-off against Germany.

I, like many others, could not quite muster up enough hope to believe that beating the world number ones was possible.

Germany were expected to come back fighting to try and salvage some pride and dignity but they just couldn’t manage it. They seemed to lack their usual confidence and belief on the pitch, which was shown by their lack of anything more than a few half-decent chances.

As regulation time ended it was still stalemate between the two old rivals and it looked increasingly likely that the game was on the way to penalties.

But suddenly, at the start of the second half of extra time, the referee awarded a penalty to England. The chance of scoring a penalty was the perfect way for footballing revenge on the Germans for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Fara Williams stepped up in the 108th minute and sent the ball in the opposite direction of the German keeper Nadine Angerer and hurtling into the back of the net. After a nail-biting final few minutes the whistle went and England found they had a bronze medal in a World Cup, the top European team and had brought a nation of inspired supporters behind them.

Japan, the team that stopped England’s chance of reaching the final, did not seem to have quite the same determination and strength to fight on for one more game. They quickly fell apart against a powerful US team in the final, looking tired and weak, and were unable to stop a Carli Lloyd goal in the first three minutes of the game. For a couple of minutes everybody thought it was a possibility that Japan just needed a few minutes to get into the game but when by 16 minutes in Lloyd had scored her hat-trick, including a stunning goal from the halfway line, it was apparent there was going to be no way Japan could get back into the game.

Somehow Japan’s Yuki Ogimi managed to maintain hope and clawed a goal back in the 27th minute, making it 4-1 after the US’s Lauren Holiday had also got her name on the scoresheet. The US goalkeeper Hope Solo will no doubt be upset to have not kept a clean sheet after going over 500 minutes in this competition without conceding and equalling the record for the number of clean sheets in a Women’s World Cup. She’ll be even more disappointed that her teammate Julie Johnston turned the ball into her own net just minutes before Tobin Heath scored at the right end of the pitch making it 5-2.

Eventually, after a disheartened Japan clung on for another 40 minutes, the US lifted the trophy and can now have a third star added to their shirts to join the ones representing their wins of 1991 and 1999.

After several of the Japanese players discussed how they wanted to raise the dropping popularity of football in their home country and to bring new players to the sport, they will be disappointed to have been unable to provide a better battle and add to their own trophy cabinet.

The England team returned home, early yesterday morning to crowds of media and fans cheering them on. If you want to keep up with them and women’s football you can enjoy the Women’s Super League which resumes this weekend.