US captain Carli Lloyd ready to end 12 years of hard work with World Cup victory
Wednesday 1 July 2015 11:53, UK
Skipper Carli Lloyd says firing the United States into the World Cup final is the result of 12 years of hard work.
Lloyd and Kelley O'Hara scored second-half goals to beat Germany 2-0 and book their place in Sunday’s Vancouver final, where they will face the winners of the semi-final between England and defending champions Japan.
Captain Lloyd scored from the spot to open the scoring on 69 minutes, shortly after Celia Sesic had missed a penalty of her own, and O’Hara put the seal on the win six minutes from time.
"I came here to win this thing not just be a participant that played in a World Cup," she said. "It's a good feeling. I've a really confident feeling in us winning it."
"I've been training my butt off for the past 12 years. These are the moments that I live for. This is kind of where I roll my sleeves up and say to myself it's time to step up."
Coach Jill Ellis was in similarly confident mood for Sunday’s game, even though the opposition will not be established until Wednesday night’s semi-final.
"We're in a World Cup final, one opponent stands in our way and for me it doesn't matter who it is," said Ellis. "We'll take either England or Japan. That sounds arrogant."
