MANCHESTER, England — The U.S. women’s soccer team is back in the Olympic gold medal match after a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Canada with a goal in the final minute of extra time.
Now the Americans will be out to avenge one of the most gut-wrenching losses in the program’s history.
Alex Morgan, a Sounders Women player, gave the U.S. its first lead in the third minute of injury time Monday, completing the win over Canada in the Olympic semifinals at Old Trafford.
Morgan’s 6-yard header, on a long cross from Heather O’Reilly, looped high into the net over Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod for the winner.
Megan Rapinoe, another Sounders Women player, scored in the 54th and 70th minutes, and Abby Wambach in the 80th for the U.S.
The Americans overcame three one-goal deficits, all because of a hat trick from Canada’s Christine Sinclair, who scored in the 22nd, 67th and 73rd minutes. In many ways the win was reminiscent of the landmark comeback victory against Brazil in last year’s World Cup.
“Even when they scored their third goal, there was something in me that knew that we had more, that we could give more,” Wambach said. “I don’t know if it’s just confidence until the end, but this team has a belief in itself, even when the going gets rough.”
Next comes the game the U.S. players have been eyeing for more than a year, a rematch with Japan on Thursday at Wembley Stadium with gold on the line. The top-ranked Americans lost to Japan on penalty kicks in the World Cup final last summer, a stunning blow that became a source of motivation as the players prepared for the Olympics.
“This is redemption for us,” midfielder Carli Lloyd said. “We know how hard it was for us after that game. It hurt us for a really long time.”
The U.S. team has played in the title match in every Summer Games since women’s soccer was introduced in Atlanta in 1996, winning the gold in 1996, 2004 and 2008 and the silver in 2000.
The Americans advanced by extending their dominance over their neighbor to the north to 27 unbeaten games (23-0-4). The Americans lead the all-time series 44-3-5, the last loss coming at the Algarve Cup in 2001.
But it wasn’t easy. Sinclair was an imposing force, scoring her 141st, 142nd and 143rd goals in international play. She’s now even with Wambach for No. 2 on the all-time list, both chasing Mia Hamm’s world record of 158.
Canada coach John Herdman said before the game that the run of futility against the Americans was on the minds of his players, and he addressed it with them in the run-up to the match. He also injected some pregame intrigue by accusing the Americans of using “highly illegal,” overly physical tactics on free kicks and corner kicks.
Certainly, his team gave one of its most spirited efforts on the biggest stage for a game between the neighboring rivals, scoring the most goals the U.S. has allowed since a 5-4 win by the Americans over Australia in May 2008.
The game included a pair of U.S. goals resulting from moments rarely seen in soccer, including a corner kick that curled in for a goal and a goalkeeper whistled for holding the ball too long.
Herdman thought the call against Erin McLeod was a miscarriage of justice, and he also thought referee Christiana Pedersen of Norway missed a hand ball in the penalty area in front of the U.S. goal.
The Americans dominated possession in the early minutes, but then the U.S. defense did the unexplainable — it lost track of one of the top goal-scorers of all time in Sinclair.
Marie-Eve Nault played a ball ahead to Melissa Tancredi, who tapped a pass to Sinclair. Sinclair then slalomed through the penalty area, maneuvering around defender Kelley O’Hara to beat goalkeeper Hope Solo with a simple right-footer from 10 yards.
It was the first goal allowed by Solo, another Sounders Women player, in more the 360 minutes, since a pair of early scores by France in the Olympic opener two weeks ago.
The U.S. trailed 1-0 at halftime for the first time in this tournament.
After a battle of attrition in extra time, the officials declared there would be three minutes of injury time, just enough for Morgan to put one in and avoid the penalty kick shootout that Solo was already preparing to face.
“I don’t have much to say because I need to wrap my head around what just happened,” Solo said. “We tend to keep things interesting.”
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