After a rare mistake, Julie Johnston survives and thrives
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Julie Johnston was disconsolate. She had just made her first big mistake of a nearly flawless World Cup, dragging down Germany's Alexandra Popp from behind as the last American defender in the 18-yard box.
The lapse threatened to cost the United States the place in the final it so deeply craved. Or at least, it threatened to cost her individually a place in the final, even if her team managed to ultimately advance.
"I definitely screwed that one up for the team, and I definitely am very apologetic for that," Johnston saidafter the game ended.
But in the ensuing moments, fate smiled twice upon the 23-year-old. First, referee gave Johnston a yellow card instead of sending her off. Then, moments later, Germany's Celia Sasic - this World Cup's leading scorer and the top scorer this past season in the Frauen-Bundesliga and the UEFA Women's Champions League - became the first German player ever to miss a penalty kick in Women's World Cup history.
Amid the raucous scenes that followed, you possibly did not see - and certainly did not hear - the charge of U.S. players toward Johnston to cheer her up and get her back in the right spirit. Within moments, Johnston was back to her old self, helping to turn the game's tide back in the Americans' favor.
(By the way: That explosion of noise from United States fans at Olympic stadium was one of the most electrifying moments I've ever witnessed covering American soccer. I've been in a lot of loud stadiums for club and national team games, and I'd put it very, very high up the list. It was almost the kind of noise you hear when watching the U.S. men play World Cup qualifiers in Central America, and I never thought I'd have that kind of experience within the women's game.)
"The team definitely lifted me up after that happened," Johnston said. "It was definitely an emotional roller-coaster, as I'm sure you saw... I really can't thank them enough, and I'm sure I'll thank them all the way to the final."
So what did they say? Meghan Klingenberg offered some insight.
"Absolutely don't worry about it - it's just part of the game" Klingenberg said she and her teammates told Johnston. "And from there, you have to just keep playing, because that's something you can't control. That's something the referee will call whether you think it's warranted or not, so you've just got to keep going, you've got to keep playing."
(To which I suspect some of you might add: Why would anyone imagine a referee blowing a call or non-call in a World Cup game between the United States and Germany? Surely that would never happen. Ever.)
Johnston did exactly what Klingenberg said, and over the course of the rest of the night was her usual stellar self. Because of that - and because of Sasic's miss - the American back line's streak of minutes without conceding a goal in this World Cup now stands at a remarkable 513 minutes.
As she met with a big throng of American media after the game, Johnston was still recovering from the aforementioned roller-coaster.
"I need to catch my breath a little bit still," she said. Then she added, "We have one more game and the ultimate goal is to win, so we need to do whatever we can."
You can be sure that in Sunday's title game showdown against Japan, Johnston will do exactly that.
Notes: Johnston, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe are among eight finalists for FIFA's Golden Ball award, given to the most outstanding player of the World Cup... Hope Solo is one of three finalists for the Golden Glove award, given to the tournament's top goalkeeper... Fox drew an average audience of 8.4 million viewers for the United States' semifinal win over Germany, with a peak viewership of 12.1 million during the second half... The network has added an additional hour of pregame coverage for Sunday's final, beginning at 5 p.m. On Friday, Fox Sports 1 will broadcast a 12-hour marathon of every U.S. game in the World Cup so far, starting at 3 a.m. with the 3-1 win over Australia in the group stage.
