A hat trick inside the opening 14 minutes by captain Carli Lloyd helped the United States to a stunning 5-2 victory over Japan in the World Cup final. The win for the Americans was revenge for the final four years ago when the Japanese stunned them in the final to win on penalties in Germany.
The game was effectively over as a contest within five minutes after Lloyd had scored twice after poor defending from the Asian side. He first goal came from the games first corner and her second came two minutes later as the Japanese side failed to mark the Houston Dash player in the six yard box.
Ten minutes later, the Americans had doubled their lead. More slack defending from the Japanese saw Megan Holiday volley home before Lloyd completed her hat trick by lobbing the goalkeeper from the half way line.
FINAL: USA 5, Japan 2. #SheBelieves the #USWNT are World Cup Champions!! pic.twitter.com/N1EiOOBxUM
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) July 6, 2015
The Japanese pulled two goals back either side of the break through Yuki Ogimi and an own goal from Julie Johnston but the Americans cemented victory with a goal before the hour mark from Tobin Heath.
The win is the Americans first since 1999 and they become the first team to win the World Cup three times. Carli Lloyd's performance in the final earned her the Golden Ball for the tournament's best player. She also won the Silver Boot for the World Cup's second top goalscorer, finishing behind Germany's Celia Sasic.
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