The USA's 5-2 victory over Japan in the Women's World Cup soccer final roused the nation Sunday, sparking celebrations far and wide, online and off.
Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, personally attended the match, while President Barack Obama posted an invitation to the White House to the winners:
The world champions themselves were quick to join the discussion.
Other notables got in on the game, as well:
An emotional high point came when one of the game's greatest ever players, veteran striker Abby Wambach, raced to the stands to kiss her wife, former player Sarah Huffman.
But FIFA, the international governing body of soccer — which had already come in for widespread criticism for forcing the teams to play on artificial turf, something that isn't accepted in men's tournaments — soured the mood.
Besides refusing to tweet the tournament at its standing World Cup account, @FIFAWorldCup — it did so at the gender-specific "FIFA Women's World Cup," or @FIFAWWC — it then sent out 10 women in tight black dresses to escort a Mountie with the trophy after the match:
More concerning, however, were sentiments that some found racist — especially posts that characterized the U.S. victory as payback for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941. For much of Sunday evening, in fact, "Pearl Harbor" was one of the top trending topics on Twitter.
