How do you salvage a Women's World Cup quarterfinal match with incompetent refereeing when one's side is down to ten men and losing in extra time? On today's evidence, you be (American hero) Abby Wambach, whose bullet header in the 122nd minute of the match took the US Women's team to penalties against Brazil, where they'd eventually end up triumphing 5-3.
It was a stunning game, full of enough twists and turns that it'll immediately go down as one of the USA's all-time great sporting moments, and despite the excitement of the penalty shootout Wambach's goal stands as the quarterfinal's emotional climax. The difficulty of the situation made it even better - the US were down to ten, had conceded in extra time, and were having to deal with a time-wasting, diving Brazilian squad against whom there appeared to be no hope at all.
Then substitute Megan Rapinoe swung in that cross and Andreia missed it entirely, leaving Wambach miraculously undefended to power the ball home. Who'd have thought that Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria would barely last a year before being upstaged?