United States beat the Netherlands to claim fourth World Cup title
Star of the tournament Megan Rapinoe was on target again in the 2-0 win
Two second-half goals helped the United States beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the World Cup final on Sunday in Lyon.
USA
2 ________________ 0
HOL
LINE UP
Estados Unidos
Naeher; O'Hara (Krieger, 46'), Dahlkemper, Sauerbrunn, Dunn; Mewis, Ertz, Lavelle; Heath (Lloyd, 87'), Alex Morgan y Rapinoe (Press, 79').
Holanda
Van Veenendal; Van Lunteren, Dekker (Van de Sanden, 73'), Van der Gragt, Bloodworth; Groenen, Van de Donk, Spitse; Beerensteyn, Miedema y Lieke Martens (Roord, 71')
Goles
1-0 M.61: Rapinoe (p). 2-0 M.69: Lavelle.
Árbitra
Stephanie Frappart (Francia). Amonestó a Spitse (10') y Van der Gragt (60') por parte holandesa y a Dahlkemper (42'), por parte estadounidense.
Campo
Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle were on target as the USA claimed the crown for the fourth time in their history -- only Germany (twice), Norway and Japan have also won the tournament.
The final pitted world champions the U.S against European champions the Netherlands. With the likes of Rapinoe and Alex Morgan on one side and Barcelona's Lieke Martens on the other, there were some genuine stars on show.
Even with Martens carrying a knock from the semifinal, the European side were on top early on but they didn't take their chances and were eventually made to pay.
Rapinoe opened the scoring in the 61st minute from the penalty spot and Lavelle sealed the win eight minutes later from open play.
Rapinoe was later named Player of the Tournament and also claimed the Golden Boot -- despite missing the semifinal against England -- as the U.S celebrated another triumph in the women's game.
Those calls for equal pay with their male counterparts in their homeland will have to be taken even more seriously now -- not that this should have been needed.
