Spirits raised after Japan´s World Cup win

Japan’s winning Women’s World Cup team hope their victory in Frankfurt will help raise the spirits of the suffering nation.

Japan became the first Asian nation to win women’s football’s showcase event, defeating the United States in a penalty shootout after twice coming from behind to force a 2-2 draw.

Japan is still reeling from the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunami in March and watching their team storm to victory has provided some much needed relief.

And as the team returned home, coach Norio Sasaki thanked the fans for their support.

“I hope that our players have lived up to the expectations of everyone and that we managed to give hope and strength to the people in Japan,” Sasaki said.

“The disaster’s made it very challenging for the Nadeshiko (Japan Women’s) League so please continue to support not only us and the female players but also the new young generations of female players. Thank you very much.”

The American team were devastated after losing a game they controlled for much of the 120 minutes.

But the favourites squandered a host of goal-scoring opportunities and their wastefulness came back to haunt them in the shootout, where they missed their first three spot kicks to see their hopes of winning a third World Cup go up in flames.

“I mean pretty devastated obviously, losing the World Cup final, but you know I think we have a lot to be proud of and we’re going back to a country that’s extremely proud of us and that means a lot,” midfielder Megan Rapinoe said. “So we’ve got to keep our chins up.”