U.S. Women's National Team Wins Gold

By an extra time goal from Carli Lloyd.

Outplayed and overwhelmed for most of the night, the Americans got the only shot they needed.

Olympic champions, once again.

Carli Lloyd scored in the sixth minute of overtime Thursday night, Hope Solo bailed out her teammates time and again, and the United States beat Brazil 1-0 to win the gold medal in women's soccer for a third time in four Olympics.

As the final whistle sounded, the Americans charged across the field, hugging anyone in sight. Someone handed out flags, and several players took off, running.

Well done, Ladies.

Now, can Hope Solo finally get some love from her teammates.

The victory was a bit of redemption for the Americans, who went to the World Cup as favorites last fall only to be humbled 4-0 in the semifinals by Brazil. And for no one was it sweeter than Solo, who was banished from the bronze medal game at the World Cup after criticizing then-coach Greg Ryan for not playing her against Brazil even though she'd allowed only two goals in four World Cup starts, and had a shutout streak of nearly 300 minutes going.

Although the Brazilian Women got a Silver Medal, it was not a good Olympics for the Brazilians. The men's side have yet to win gold in the competition and were trounced by Argentina in the semi-finals (the men will play for the Bronze). The women lost for the gold medal game for the second time in consecutive games to the U.S.

Look a win against the run of play is still a win. In other news, the Germans won the bronze medal in a 2-0 win over Japan.