Captain Homare Sawa redeemed herself from a huge error by scoring the go-ahead goal in a 3-1 victory over Sweden which put Japan in the World Cup final against the United States. On top of that, Nahomi Kawasumi rewarded her surprise call-up in the starting lineup with two goals which more than compensated for the early score of Sweden's Josefine Oqvist. Earlier, the United States struck twice late in the second half to beat France 3-1. On a rainy afternoon, the Americans, who won the title in 1991 and 1999 and have never finished below third place in a women's World Cup, took an early lead when Lauren Cheney flicked in a Carli Lloyd cross in the ninth minute. France leveled after the break with a Sonia Bompastor cross that bounced past US keeper Hope Solo but two goals in three minutes from Abby Wambach (79th) and Alex Morgan (82nd) secured a third World Cup final appearance for the Americans. “This is our journey, this is our dream,” a beaming Wambach said. “France are a great team. There were moments they were outplaying us but I am so proud of this team.” “I know we are going to pull through. I have belief in this team. Everybody is working for each other.” “We lost our legs a bit but we picked up the fight,” said US coach Pia Sundhage, whose team needed a penalty shootout to overcome Brazil in the last eight. “I think it was obvious we had heavy legs so we had to adjust.” In a battle of Japan's fine skills against the thrust and hustle of Sweden, the match totally turned in the second half when Kawasumi caught Hedvig Lindahl off her line and lobbed her from 35 meters for the third goal, one of the best in a tournament full of excellent strikes.
