All throughout the women's football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the prospect of the United States and Japan reprising their final from the 2011 Women's World Cup has dangled over the proceedings.
Now, it's a reality, although it took a long time to get there.
After more than two hours of action at Old Trafford, Alex Morgan scored in the last minute of stoppage time to lift the U.S. to a 4-3 victory over Canada in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament, earning the Americans a berth opposite Japan in Thursday's gold-medal match at Wembley Stadium in London.
Morgan's goal gave the Americans their first lead of the day, and it was also the last for either side, as the U.S. overcame a hat trick by Canada's Christine Sinclair to earn a spot in the finals.
Canada struck first in the 23rd minute, as Sinclair scored her fourth goal of the tournament. Sinclair took a pass at close range and dribbled to her right before shooting back across her body, sending the ball into the lower left corner of the net. The goal, Sinclair's fourth against U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo, ended a 368-minute shutout streak for the American netminder.
Morgan nearly tied the game in the 31st minute, but her header on a Megan Rapinoe kick sent the ball just wide to the left of the net. Morgan tried to set it up for Abby Wambach in the 37th minute, but Wambach's header sailed wide to the right. Canada went to the dressing room at halftime leading, 1-0.
The U.S. pulled level in the 54th minute with a goal by Rapinoe. Rapinoe's corner kick managed to elude Canadian keeper Erin McLeod, possibly due to Sinclair's presence in the immediate vicinity. The Canadians weren't done, however, as Sinclair struck again in the 68th minute. This time, Sinclair lept into the air to put a header on an expert cross from Melissa Tancredi.
Rapinoe had an answer of her own, though, and this time, it didn't take nearly as long. Rapinoe struck from just inside the box on the right side, drilling the ball off the left goalpost and into the back of the net.
Once again, however, Sinclair wasn't to be denied. In the 73rd minute, Sinclair rose up to head a corner kick into the top left corner of the net, putting Canada on top once more by completing the hat trick.
Rapinoe made a bid to match with an indirect free kick in the 79th minute, but it drew a hand ball against Canada. The result was a penalty kick for Wambach, which she calmly drilled into the lower left corner of the net.
Wambach wasn't as successful in the 85th minute, when she couldn't knock a Morgan cross into the gaping net to put the U.S. in the lead. She also had a header chance in extra time, but she couldn't get enough on the ball in the 100th minute, and it was scooped up by McLeod. Canada didn't mount much of an offensive threat in the extra time, but did threaten in the last minutes of the 120.
That led to three minutes of stoppage time, which nearly passed without incident until the final minute, when Heather O'Reilly sent in a cross from right wing, and Morgan rose up to head the ball past McLeod and send it into the net.
The U.S. will face Japan for the gold medal on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. local time (2:45 p.m. ET in the U.S.). Canada will face France at 1 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) for the bronze.
