US Women defeat Japan, will face Brazil for Gold

The US Women looked impressive after a slow start against Japan this morning.

Japan took an early 1-0 lead before the US shook the cobwebs out and got down to business. Heather Mitts looked great (ahem) pushing in to the attack from her right fullback position and Lori Chalupny made life miserable for Japan as well.

Once the girls got Fukumoto's number...i.e., she's a short goalkeeper and is susceptible to getting chipped, the US started to put the game away.

To Japan's credit, they played the full 90 minutes as if they were down a goal and dug out a bit of pride in the 93rd to add a goal, but that was far from enough as the the final tally stood at USA 4 Japan 2.

Now the US will face World Cup nemesis Brazil in a what should be a battle royale for the gold.

My "man" of the match, Heather Mitts.