MX23RW : Tuesday, July 27 19:32:02| >> :600:163444:163444:
Jul 7, 2019 at 4pm UK at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Decines-Charpieu
Attendance: 57,900
USA WomenUSA Women
2-0
N'lands WomenNetherlands Women
Rapinoe (61' pen.), Lavelle (69')
FT(HT: 0-0)

Megan Rapinoe: 'Winning the World Cup feels surreal'

Megan Rapinoe: 'Winning the World Cup feels surreal'
© Reuters
The USA won 2-0 in Lyon to retain their title.

Megan Rapinoe saluted her "crazy" United States team-mates after helping them defend their World Cup title with victory over Holland in the final.

Rapinoe's second-half penalty and a second from Rose Lavelle secured a 2-0 win for the holders in Lyon and left the 34-year-old lost for words.

Asked what made the team so special, she told Fox Sports: "We're crazy, that's what makes us special. We just have no quit in us, we're so tight and we'll do anything to win.

"It's unbelievable. Just to know all of the people in our group that put in so much work, obviously the players – we have all our friends and family here – it's surreal.

"I don't know how to feel right now. It's ridiculous."

Rapinoe reserved special praise for rising star Lavelle, whose strike effectively killed off the contest.

She said: "That was what she's been missing, just that little bit. All tournament, she's been on the dribble, so dangerous for us. She's opened up everything for us.

"For her to get that reward tonight on the biggest stage that you possibly can, I'm so proud of her. She's a superstar not even in the making, she's a straight-up superstar at this point."

USA coach Jill Ellis was emotional as she assessed what she had just witnessed.

Ellis said: "This is just an amazing group of players, but an even better group of people, just fantastic resilience, just chemistry.

United States coach Jill Ellis shakes hands with Megan Rapinoe
United States coach Jill Ellis shakes hands with Megan Rapinoe (Francois Mori/PA)

"They've put their hearts and souls into this journey and I can't thank them enough. It's been fantastic."

Asked what she had said to her players in a huddle on the pitch shortly after the final whistle, she added: "I could barely speak, but I just said to them they were unbelievable, congratulations, they made history, enjoy it.

"It's unbelievable. I've got no words, I'm sorry."

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Olympic medal table header
CountryGold medalSilver MedalBronze MedalT
JapanJapan103518
United StatesUnited States98825
ChinaChina95721
Olympics flagOlympic Athletes from Russia77418
Great BritainGreat Britain45413
Today's Olympic highlights header

Wednesday's key events


ROWING
· Team GB have dominated the men's coxless fours in recent Olympics, winning on each of the last five occasions, but this year they face some stiff competition. They are one of four rowing medal contenders for Great Britain today (2.10am)

SWIMMING
· Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus face off again in the women's 200m freestyle final, with the latter having already come out on top in the 400m event (2.41am)
· Team GB's Abbie Wood is among the medal contenders in the women's 200m individual medley final, while teammate Alicia Wilson will also take part. USA's Kate Douglass was the fastest qualifier, while world and Olympic record holder Katinka Hosszu is also involved (3.45am)
· Katie Ledecky could make it two golds in one morning as she goes into the 1500m freestyle final as heavy favourite, having broken the Olympic record in qualifying (3.54am)
· Team GB were by far the fastest qualifiers for the men's 4x200m freestyle relay final and will therefore be favourites for another gold in the pool (4.26am)

RUGBY SEVENS
· Team GB take on New Zealand in the first men's semi-final, having been beaten by reigning champions Fiji but then come from behind to overcome USA on day two (3am)
· The sevens gold medal match takes place at Tokyo Stadium, with the winner of Great Britain vs. New Zealand taking on either Argentina or Fiji (10am)

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
· Joe Fraser and James Hall compete for Team GB in the men's all-around final (11.15am-2.10pm)

CYCLING
· Anna Shackley will take part in the women's road time trial (from 3.30am)
· Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart have medal ambitions for Great Britain in the men's road time trial, although both will need to recover from the crash they suffered on Saturday (6am)

DIVING
· Jack Laugher bids to retain his men's 3m synchro diving title alongside new partner Daniel Goodfellow (7am)

EQUESTRIAN
· Charlotte Dujardin will look to add to her already legendary status with a third successive Olympic individual dressage title (9.30am-1.25pm)

> Today's schedule in full
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