The U.S. women’s soccer team has had plenty of supporters during its World Cup run over the past month.
About 300 of them showed up at Santander Arena in Reading Sunday night to see if the Fourth of July weekend would end with a championship for the Americans.
Less than 20 minutes into the action, there was an overwhelming sense that it most certainly would.
“Japan had only given up three goals the whole tournament, and now they give up four here in the first 16 minutes,” said Jon Steiger of Exeter, who watched along with other spectators as the U.S. quickly jumped ahead 4-0. “How about that?”
“I didn’t expect this kind of start at all,” remarked Jeremy Katz of Lancaster. “I thought it was going to be a rough game all the way through and maybe finish in overtime or something, but this is just ridiculous.”
After each of the early goals, a loud roar filled the building and chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” broke out as fans celebrated the rapidly increasing advantage.
One fan, Stephanie Brown of Amity, was not surprised by how the U.S. struck so early and often.
“Absolutely I expected it, they’ve been due,” Brown said. “They hadn’t been finding the net, they started out super slow, but now they’re finally doing it. This is their peak game.”
Another patriotic fan from West Lawn, who, with the help of several friends, had his face painted red, white and blue for the occasion, made it abundantly clear how he feels about his country.
“I just love America,” said Max Fick. “This only happens every four years, and I got dressed up last year when the men were in it so I figured I’d do it again this year.”
When Japan scored to get within two goals early in the second half, a momentary feeling of concern came over the crowd. But when Tobin Heath’s goal pushed the U.S. lead back to three two minutes later,, the party was back on.
“My friend and I were talking earlier and we said we thought the final was actually the Germany game,” Steiger said. “After (the U.S.) got past Germany (in the semifinals) I definitely thought they were going to win it.”
Turned out he was right, as the Americans led by at least two goals the rest of the way and finished their World Cup quest in style.
But as a friend quickly pointed out, Steiger did not accurately forecast the final score, so his prediction didn’t officially count.
As groups of youth soccer players and various other spectators at Santander proved with their continuous cheering and enthusiasm, score predictions weren’t all that important.
A U.S. victory was all that really mattered.
“I think it’s amazing the way they did it without any doubt to shut everyone up,” Brown said. “They left no doubt that they’re the best in the world.”
Contact Ryan Remp: 610-371-5069 or rremp@readingeagle.com.
